


intertwined

by perfectlyrose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (listen they are All Switches but this is what happens in This fic), (of a sort), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bottom Keith (Voltron), Bottom Shiro (Voltron), Explicit Sexual Content, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Not Season/Series 08 Compliant, Pining, Polyamory, Post-War, Romance, Slow Burn, Virgin Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 08:50:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20005588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlyrose/pseuds/perfectlyrose
Summary: “Thought there were Galra in the sky, not humans,” the man says, voice dry and amused. “Forgotten my species again?”Shiro freezes and sees Keith do the same out of the corner of his eye. There’s no way… he’s… the Garrison pronounced him dead, killed in action. Shiro hadmournedhim.“Adam?” Shiro croaks out, all but pushing Trit out of the way. The man sitting at the desk goes absolutely still. He’s dressed in an unfamiliar uniform and a burn scar crawls up his left cheek to an out-of-commission eye and his previously everpresent glasses are nowhere to be seen, but Shiro would recognize him anywhere.Somehow, Adam is here in this forgotten prison on the edge of known space. Somehow he’salive.Shiro and Keith find Adam on a backwater prison moon a couple years after the war on a Blades mission. Feelings start to bloom between the three of them as they get to know each other again and their lives become increasingly intertwined.





	intertwined

**Author's Note:**

  * For [animelover2day](https://archiveofourown.org/users/animelover2day/gifts).



> a request written for animelover2day!
> 
> a huge thanks to [Kika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kika988) for the beta and the constant cheerleading!! also shout out to the AP chat on discord for all your encouragement!!
> 
> Edit// ALSO!!! [check out the gorgeous art hchano did for this fic!](https://twitter.com/hchanooo/status/1155735903194644482?s=20) (and more art linked in the end notes!)

****Shiro knocks on Keith’s door and then presses his hand to the scanner to let himself in without waiting for an answer.

Keith glares at him halfheartedly from where he’s sprawled on the sofa. “One of these days you’re going to get an eyeful from just walking in like that.”

Shiro grins at him, entirely unapologetic. “You should lock your door, then.”

“It was locked, you’re just keyed into the system.”

Shiro nudges Keith’s feet out of the way so he can sit on the couch. He stretches out, propping his feet up on the coffee table. Keith drops his feet into Shiro’s lap with more force than warranted. “You do the same thing to my room,” Shiro points out.

“I wait at least a few seconds before barging in,” Keith protests. “Gives you time to grab clothes or retreat to your bedroom before I walk in.”

Shiro tugs on the hem of Keith’s sweatpants, resisting the urge to tuck his fingers up underneath and explore the warm skin and springy hair that’s right there. It feels just a little over the just friends line they walk. “Good thing you’re dressed, then.”

Keith rolls his eyes and picks his datapad back up. Shiro uses the extra reach of his floating hand to pluck it out of his grasp.

“Hey! Shiro!” Keith protests, chasing after it. 

Shiro sends his hand to the other side of the room and deposits the pad safely on the table. “No more work. It’s late and even you have to take breaks sometimes.”

Keith snorts and digs his heels into Shiro’s thigh. “You’re one to talk.”

Shiro fights to hold back a smile. “Well, I’m the one who came to visit my best friend instead of working through the night so…”

“So you don’t want to know about the mission we’re going on in a couple quintants?” Keith asks with a raised eyebrow.

It’s been a few years since the end of the war, since the Lions were sacrificed to save the unraveling multiverse. In the aftermath, the team had scattered, reuniting with family and trying to find where a Paladin of Voltron fit into the post-war world. Shiro had remained with the Garrison for a year, lobbying to get the Atlas back into space, to take her on rebuilding and peacekeeping missions.

He’d been shot down time and time again. The Atlas was grounded, positively buried in bureaucratic red tape, and therefore so was Shiro. It was as terrible as he’d ever imagined. He spent that time living for the sporadic messages Keith sent him from deep space where he was working with the Blades and then leading them.

Shiro missed him. 

That was a horrific understatement. It felt like a piece of his heart was out in space without him. When Keith sent a picture of him in his new Senior Blade trappings, Shiro’s heart had skipped a few beats before he even read the message.

 _There’s a spot for you on my team, if you ever want it_.

Shiro had put in for an indefinite leave of absence from the Garrison before even calling Keith to make sure he meant it. He had and Shiro has been with the Blades as an unofficial member for the last two years and far happier for it.

“Are you going to tell me about it anyways?” Shiro asks, going back to toying with the hem of Keith’s sweats.

“Should make you wait until the briefing now,” Keith grumbles.

“But you won’t,” Shiro says, confident and smug. “Come on, where are we going next?”

Keith holds out for about half a minute, crumbling when Shiro busts out his pout. “Got word of a moon where an Imperial prison was located,” Keith reveals. “The prison was liberated almost a decaphoeb ago by local rebels but it’s a ways out and most of the prisoners are still stuck on the moon with no way to get back to their homes.”

“So, humanitarian mission?” Shiro gives in and wraps his fingers around Keith’s ankles, reveling in the simple touch and pretending it’s completely casual for him.

“Yup. We’ll take some supplies for the planet and anyone who wants to keep living on the moon, but we’re taking one of the cruisers out so we can transport everyone to a hub they can go anywhere from.”

Shiro squeezes his ankle gently. “You developed this mission didn’t you?”

Any Blade member could develop a mission, use intelligence to identify a problem the Blades could assist with and present it to leadership for consideration and implementation. Keith usually selects missions brought to him by team members instead of originating them himself, but this sounds like one he would choose.

“Maybe,” Keith hedges. “The intelligence report landed on my desk last week and it seemed like a good mission to break in a bunch of the new recruits on as well as being able to help a lot of people.”

“Sounds perfect,” Shiro says. “There’s a reason you’re Blade Leader now, you know.” He watches color bloom high on Keith’s cheekbones, endlessly endeared with how easily he can make him blush with well-placed praise.

Keith ducks his head, letting his bangs shield his face a bit. “It’s not like I’m doing this on my own.”

“No, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that you’re doing amazing at leading the Blades.” He waits for Keith to meet his eyes again before smiling, gentle and sincere. “You _are_ doing amazing.”

Shiro marvels sometimes at how Keith’s bloomed into even better of a leader than Shiro had ever dreamed. Seeing him excel sends something warm flooding through Shiro, makes him want to gather Keith close once they’re alone and show him exactly how proud and impressed he is through touch. Keith’s always appreciated action over words anyways.

But Shiro had waited too long figuring out his own feelings after Keith’s swords-edge confession to be able to act now. The world and the war built a barrier between them that feels insurmountable, at least where romantic feelings are concerned. Their friendship is stronger than ever, though, and Shiro would face down Death again before letting anything endanger that.

His thumb caresses the jut of Keith’s ankle bone without his permission.

“Did you eat dinner?” Shiro asks when Keith stays quiet. He has a tendency to forget to eat when he’s working. Shiro’s just as bad.

“Yeah, Rigev had a dinner meeting with me scheduled to talk about their progress.” Keith sighs and leans his head back against the arm of the couch and closes his eyes, lazily moving his braid to hang over the edge. “That barely even seems like it was today and it was only a few hours ago.”

“You need rest,” Shiro says.

Keith hums. “I saw the bags under your eyes, Shiro. You’re no better.”

“Maybe not,” he admits with a huff of laughter. “But we look after each other and I’m going to start bullying you into breaks soon.”

Maybe he can convince Keith to take a vacation, even. The dream of taking a vacation _with_ Keith flits by and for a moment the _want_ inside of Shiro sharpens to a knife’s edge.

“You have free time tomorrow afternoon? Before lunch?” Keith asks, oblivious to Shiro’s sudden distraction.

“I think so, yeah.” He trails his fingers up Keith’s calf and then back down. “Why?”

“Meet me in the gym? It’s been too long since we sparred. Too much paperwork.”

Shiro snorts. “Sparring isn’t exactly taking a break.”

Keith shrugs, cracking his eyes open to look at Shiro. “It counts. It’s a break from being…” he waves a hand vaguely, encompassing the Senior Blade wrappings laying on the coffee table and his position in the organization.

“I get that,” Shiro says quietly. He needed breaks from being Captain Shirogane back when he had the Atlas and Keith’s company was always the first he sought out when he needed to just feel like Shiro and not the Garrison’s Golden Boy.

“I know.” He closes his eyes again, violet galaxies disappearing behind heavy lids. “Fuck, I’m so tired. How did Kolivan do this in wartime?”

“He’s an enigma,” Shiro deadpans, drawing a snort from Keith as well as another dig to the thigh from Keith’s ankle. “Come on, you should get some sleep.”

“Only if you do too,” Keith shoots back, stubborn to the last.

“I’ll head straight back to my quarters and collapse, promise.”

Keith groans and Shiro twitches a little. “Fine. Sleep.” He drags himself into a sitting position, swinging his feet to the floor and out of Shiro’s lap. “Sparring tomorrow?”

“I’ll message you in the morning to make sure our schedules line up,” Shiro says. His morning is full of video calls with the Garrison but he’ll cancel a meeting if he has to. Keith doesn’t need to know that, though. 

“Good. Now get out of here.” The words are softened by the smile gracing his lips.

“Rude,” Shiro teases, flicking Keith’s shoulder as he gets up.

Keith’s smile widens and he shoves Shiro towards the door. “See you tomorrow.”

Shiro offers a sloppy salute with his floating hand and a “Yes sir,” that sets Keith to blushing again before walking out the door.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Even two years into his time with the Blades, Shiro still isn’t used to the suit. Keith had a set of them made for him as soon as it became clear that Shiro was for sure in it for the long haul. He tugs at the skintight armor as he moves through the gathered Blades to find Keith at the front of the group.

Keith quirks him a ghost of a smile before squaring his shoulders and addressing the group as Shiro settles off to the side.

“We’re about to fall into orbit around the moon Wratix. You’ve all been briefed on your duties for this mission but if you have questions, please ask your commanding officer or find me. Shiro, Vrox, Thron, and I will be going down to the surface first to make sure they know who we are.” The corners of Keith’s mouth twitch downward. “We don’t want people panicking at the sight of a cruiser when we’re here to help.”

A few mumbles go through the gathered Blades. The experienced ones know all too well how ill-received Galra cruisers can be when the insignia of the Blade of Marmora is not recognized.

“Once we’ve established that we are here in peace and to lend a helping hand, we’ll signal for the rest of you to begin your missions. If you encounter any problems, again, alert either your commander or me immediately.” Keith offers his Blades a smile. “We’re here to help people, enjoy it.”

With that, he turns and walks towards Shiro. The Blades start breaking into their mission groups to do a final debrief.

Shiro grins at Keith and slugs him in the shoulder. “And to think you used to roll your eyes at my pep talks.”

“It wasn’t a pep talk,” Keith protests. “And I didn’t roll my eyes.”

“You did. Lance might even have video.”

Keith _does_ roll his eyes at that.

“It was a good pep talk,” Shiro continues. “Upbeat and to the point.”

“Whatever.” There’s an irrepressible smile lighting up Keith’s face that Shiro counts as a win.

The other two members of their team, Vrox and Thron, make their way over to them. Vrox is tall, even for a Galra, and willow thin with a whip-like tail and an unexpectedly deep voice. He’s their team techie. Thron is two inches taller than Shiro and built solidly. Their coloring reminds Shiro of Ulaz and they have that same scaliness instead of fur. They’re an asset in a fight but more than that, are skilled in de-escalating a situation through conversation.

“Everyone ready?” Keith asks as Vrox and Thron come to a stop opposite of him and Shiro.

“Yes, sir,” Thron replies, lips tilting upwards. They’re more emotive than many Blade members and Shiro likes that about them. “Do we know yet who we’ll be talking to?”

Keith shakes his head. “Still can’t pin down who is nominally in charge. I’m sure they’ll send someone forward to talk to us, though.”

Vrox holds up the device in his hands. “Ready to scan for weapons and new languages.”

Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Put both of them in one thing?”

Vrox grins with all his teeth. “More efficient.”

“Good work,” Keith says. The ship’s hum changes, signalling that they’ve fallen into orbit. “Let’s get to our ship and down to the surface.” He pulls up his hood and activates his mask.

The others follow suit and soundlessly follow Keith to the hangar. Shiro can’t help but let his eyes catalogue for the millionth time how the Blades suit hugs the lines of Keith’s body, mask hiding the direction of his gaze. The Senior Blade wrappings make his shoulders look even broader and his waist tinier and it’s been driving him insane since the first picture.

He really feels like he should have built up an immunity by now to Keith in the suit, but he’s resigned himself to never getting used to wearing it himself or seeing Keith in it.

Shiro pilots them down to the surface of the moon without incident, setting down in the old transport center. Keith leads the way out of the ship, followed by Shiro and then Thron and Vrox. The area is uncomfortably still and silent.

They lock the ship and venture away from it until Keith motions for them to halt in the center of an empty landing pad. He nods at Shiro.

“If anyone’s listening,” Shiro calls out, “we are the Blades of Marmora and we’ve come to offer aid and transport to anyone who wants it.” He’s hyperaware of the ready stances of the rest of the group and the blades within easy reach for them. Shiro has a set of extending weighted batons attached to his belt as well as an energy pistol designed by Hunk and Pidge.

Seconds tick by in silence before a voice rings out from the edge of one of the buildings in front of them. “Are you armed?”

“Yes,” Shiro answers truthfully, “but only for our own protection. We are not here to attack anyone.”

A group of four people step out into the open. A tall Vridian with dark green fur is in the lead, followed by two Grulsks, and a masked humanoid whose species he can’t pin down.

“No ranged weapons,” Vrox mumbles. “Humanoid has a cudgel and the Vridian has a knife.”

“Why should we trust you when you show up in our sky with a Galra cruiser?” the Vridian asks.

“The Blades of Marmora fought against the Empire in the war,” Keith says, stepping forward. “The cruiser is here only to help transport people to the nearest travel hub so they can get home or wherever it is they want to go. We know it’s hard to get off a prison moon even when the prison gates are open.”

“And we’re just supposed to trust you?” The humanoid this time.

The shorter Grulsk speaks up. “I’ve heard of the Blades. They were never supporters of the Empire. I think we should at least talk to them.”

“We understand you likely have questions for us,” Shiro chimes in. “We’re willing to talk until you are satisfied we are who we say.”

“The rest of our team will stay aboard the cruiser until it is decided that the people of this moon are willing to accept the aid we offer,” Thron says. “We do not wish to make you uneasy.”

“People are going to be uneasy anytime Galra show up in a warship,” the Grulsk who’d spoken in their defense retorts. “But we’ll talk to you.”

The group of aliens leads them into one of the buildings adjacent to the transport hub and through a maze of corridors until the Vridian opens the door to a small conference room. The silence strains to the breaking point as everyone takes a seat.

“How can we assure you that we’re here to help?” Keith asks, folding his hands in front of him.

Sometimes Shiro looks at Keith and is just _so_ proud of him and who he’s become. Seeing him embrace a role as a diplomat when people in their shared past constantly wrote him off as hot-headed and intractable is absolutely incredible.

“Frix said this Blades business is a Galra organization,” the Vridian says. “We’ve got good reason to not trust the Galra around here seeing as we were all imprisoned by them.”

“So was I,” Shiro says. “Everyone in this room suffered under the Empire. The Blades were an espionage and rebel group during the war and now is transitioning to offer aid and support wherever it’s needed.”

“What exactly are you doing here?” The humanoid asks.

“We recieved intelligence that there was a prison here that had been liberated but because Wratix is out here on the fringes of what was the Empire, there’s not much opportunity to actually leave,” Keith explains. “We’re here to offer aid and supplies to anyone who wishes to continue living here and transport to the nearest major travel hub for those who want to leave.”

“Just like that. No strings attached,” the humanoid says flatly.

“No strings attached,” Keith promises. “We’re just here to help, if help is wanted.”

The Grulsk who hasn’t spoken until now hisses. “They are _Galra_. They can’t be trusted.” Their gray skin is covered in marks of violence and Shiro understands why they are reluctant.

Shiro nudges Keith in question. They try not to reveal that they are Paladins unless it’s necessary, but sometimes it helps build trust. Sometimes people recognize Shiro’s arm and just know anyways. Keith nods and Shiro hits the release for his mask and pushes back his hood.

All of the aliens suck in a breath.

“You are not Galra,” the Vridian says.

“I am not,” Shiro says easily. “I am not a true Blade even though I have the honor of working with them. My name is Takashi Shirogane and I used to be the Black Paladin of Voltron. I give you my word that we are here to help.”

“Paladin.” The title comes out on a breath from the scarred Grulsk, their skin a shade greyer than before. “I didn’t—”

“It’s okay,” Shiro says kindly, offering a smile. “There was no way for you to know when I was wearing a mask. We just try to help without leaning on an old reputation.”

The humanoid and the Vridian are exchanging whispers as the Grulsk stumbles out an apology.

“We gladly accept your help for those of us trapped here,” the Vridian says. “Tell us what you need and we will assist.”

“You’re human, right?” the humanoid cuts in before Keith can start explaining the process of how the Blades will proceed.

Shiro nods warily.

“There’s someone you should meet while your team hashes out details,” they say. They take off their mask and reveal almost reptilian features that Shiro still can’t identify. “If you can be spared, I will take you to my friend. I am called Trit.”

“There is a human here? On Wratix?” Keith sounds incredulous. They are so far out on the edge of the Empire, so far away from Earth. It’s almost unthinkable that they’d find another human out here.

Trit nods.

Keith turns to Vrox and Thron. “Go over the details with the representatives here and then contact our teams. I’m going to go with Shiro and Trit.”

Trit bristles. “You have different markings and are obviously the leader. Why would you-”

Keith hits the release for his mask. “I’m half human.”

This gets another round of sharp inhales and Shiro can feel their teammates rolling their eyes.

“Might as well introduce yourself now, Keith.” Shiro says quietly, nudging him with his elbow.

“I’m Blade Leader Kogane, former Red and Black Paladin of Voltron,” Keith says, meeting the eyes of each of the representatives in turn. “I’d like to also meet with the human here, as I grew up on Earth.”

“Of course,” the Vridian says. “Two Paladins. Here.”

Shiro smiles. “We’re just like everyone else these days.”

He still looks a little dazed.

Trit stands. “Come, I will bring you to my friend.”

Keith exchanges a few quiet words with his teammates before falling into step at Shiro’s side as they follow Trit out the door.

Trit takes them deeper into the building before coming to a stop outside a nondescript door. He raps on it and calls out, “ _Rillan_ , are you busy?”

Shiro can barely hear the response, but Trit hears enough to open the door. “I know it’s been years since you saw anyone of your species so I brought some of our visitors to see you.”

Trit is tall enough to block even Shiro’s view of the room, but he does catch a glimpse of sandy hair before a voice, impossibly familiar, responds.

“Thought there were Galra in the sky, not humans,” the man says, voice dry and amused. “Forgotten my species again?”

Shiro freezes and sees Keith do the same out of the corner of his eye. There’s no way… he’s… the Garrison pronounced him dead, killed in action. Shiro had _mourned_ him.

“Adam?” Shiro croaks out, all but pushing Trit out of the way. The man sitting at the desk goes absolutely still. He’s dressed in an unfamiliar uniform and a burn scar crawls up his left cheek to an out-of-commission eye and his previously everpresent glasses are nowhere to be seen, but Shiro would recognize him anywhere. 

Somehow, Adam is here in this forgotten prison on the edge of known space. Somehow he’s _alive_.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

“ _Takashi_ ” Adam’s tablet pen falls out of his hand and lands with a clatter on his desk. He’s… he has to be hallucinating. Although, he can’t imagine that he’d ever come up with the image of Takashi with fully white hair and a floating arm and wrapped up in a sinfully tight deep purple bodysuit.

“ _Rillan_?” Trit cuts in, facial ridges twitching in confusion. “You know our visitor? I did not realize that the human population was small enough to know everyone.”

“It’s not,” Adam says automatically, not taking his gaze away from Takashi, just in case he disappears. “But I do know him, yes.”

He feels like he’s in a trance as he pushes himself to his feet, barely registering the protest of his joints being forced to move after sitting for too long. He comes to a stop a foot away from Takashi, registering how much broader he is than he was back at the Garrison and the slash of a scar across his nose and the shock still painted on his face.

He imagines his expression is the same and wonders what Takashi thinks about what the war’s done to his face.

“Sam told me you were alive but I didn’t know,” Adam starts.

“I thought you were dead,” Shiro cuts in, quiet anguish in his words. “When we made it back to Earth… they told us none of your flight survived the battle.”

“I was captured and ended up being shipped off somewhere else when they decided they didn’t want to negotiate for anything,” Adam says. “Kept me alive in case that changed, I guess, but mostly forgot about me. Ended up way out here.”

“Yeah,” Shiro breathes. He reaches out with his human hand and stops just short of cradling Adam’s cheek. Adam leans into his hand, wanting that contact. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Can’t believe _you’re_ here,” Adam retorts. “Whatever news we can cobble together out here is garbled at best so I wasn’t sure if you and the cadets you absconded with were still alive.”

Shiro laughs, note of disbelief still there as he strokes a gentle thumb over Adam’s cheekbone.

He shivers under the touch.

“Well, we actually absconded with him,” another voice puts in. It’s deep and pleasantly rough and just a touch familiar. 

Adam startles slightly, having forgotten that Trit said he’d brought more than one visitor. He must have been standing off to the left side of the room where Adam couldn’t see him this whole time. He turns his head, mourning for a second that Takashi drops his hand at the movement.

His gaze lands on the other figure in the room. Adam registers the same tight suit painted over a lithe and muscled frame with wrappings that emphasize an enviable shoulder to waist ratio. He lingers on the dark braid hanging over the man’s shoulder before coming back to the man’s face. His lips are quirked up in the barest hint of a smirk and there’s a scar cutting across his cheek. It’s not until he gets to the eyes, brimming with a swirl of emotions and colored an impossible violet he’s only seen on one person before that his words sink in.

 _We_ , he’d said. There’s _no way_.

Keith’s smirk blooms into a small smile, earnest and devastating. “It’s good to see you alive and well, Adam.”

“Keith,” Adam says, still a little in shock. He’d had warning from Sam about Shiro’s arm and had seen a couple pictures showing the scar and the bulked-up build. There was no warning for Keith getting _hot_ in all the ways that Adam likes. “You too,” he hurries to add. “Sam didn’t have much news about you when he came back to Earth.”

“Yeah, I was working with the Blades when he was with the Paladins,” Keith says, “so I only talked to him over vidcall once or twice.” He shrugs. “Didn’t really have family on Earth to send a message back to with him like the others did.”

Adam nods.

“He did find his mom, though,” Shiro puts in. Adam looks back over at him and finds him aiming a soft, proud smile at Keith.

 _Oh_ , he thinks. He recognizes that softness. Takashi looked at him that way before things started falling apart.

“That’s amazing,” Adam says, turning his smile on Keith. Keith ducks his head slightly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “Maybe we’ll all have some time to catch up. It’s been awhile.”

Takashi laughs and it rumbles through Adam, warming him all the way through. “Still master of the understatement, I see.”

Adam arches an eyebrow and smirks. “I assume war hasn’t helped your propensity for dark humor?”

“It’s gotten worse,” Keith confirms with a snort. “You bring a man back from the dead a couple times and he just uses it as bad joke fodder.”

Adam blinks a few times as he processes that. “From the dead?” he asks, voice remarkably even.

Takashi rubs at the back of his neck, looking caught out. “We can talk about it later?”

Adam will make sure of that. He leans back against his desk so he can see both of them. He’s gotten used to the lack of vision out of his left eye but it makes it difficult to keep multiple people in his line of sight when they’re spread out around a room.

“So, what are the two of you doing out here?” Adam asks.

“We’re with the Blades of Marmora,” Shiro explains, gesturing at his uniform. “Formerly a rebel espionage organization, now transitioning to aid, relief, and peacekeeping missions.”

“They arrived to offer transport off the moon for anyone who wants to leave,” Trit interrupts, “and supplies for those who wish to stay.”

“Oh?” Adam’s gaze slides back over to Shiro for confirmation.

“The team should be working on getting to the surface and getting started spreading the news now,” Keith says. “Hopefully it won’t take more than two quintants.”

“ _Rillan_ , if you’re fine being alone with the Paladins, I’ll go inform the others that they are known to you. It might increase the trust as we move forward.”

“Good idea, Trit,” Adam says with a nod. “I’m fine here with Takashi and Keith.”

Keith offers another smile, slightly strained around the edges. “I should go help smooth things over further as well and make sure the team isn’t running into roadblocks. I’ll let the two of you catch up.”

Shiro’s face pinches with worry. “Should I come with—”

Keith cuts him off with a shake of his head. “I got this, Shiro. If we need you I’ll call. Things’ll be a bit crazy when we get everyone on the ship, you two deserve some time to catch up without all that.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” Keith nods, eyes darting between the two of them. “It really is good to see you, Adam. We can catch up later, if you want.”

“Of course,” Adam says immediately. “I’m definitely hopping on whatever ship you have that’s going away from this godforsaken moon.”

Keith huffs out a laugh. “I’ll try to carve out some time onboard then.” He turns to Trit, professional mask sliding into place, “Take us back to the others?” He asks.

Trit nods and leads Keith out the door. Adam notices the tense set of his shoulders before his gaze drops to the way the bodysuit hugs every single curve.

He drags his eyes away in time to catch Shiro staring too.

“So, Keith, huh?” Adam asks, smirk making itself at home on his face.

Shiro startles, guilty flush staining his cheeks as he fixes his eyes on Adam again. “What about him?”

“I see the two of you are still inseparable. More so than ever.”

Shiro smiles. “I tend to follow him around now instead of the other way around,” he admits. “He’s the Blade Leader, one of the main people in charge of the whole organization. I’m just a volunteer. Keith offered me a spot when Earth leadership grounded my ship.”

Adam’s eyebrows go up. “Keith’s in charge?”

“Yeah. He was the Leader of Voltron for a while, too. He’s incredible. Finally realizing all that potential, you know?”

“Mmm, he looks good, too,” Adam says. He throws Shiro a sly look. “Grew up and got hot.”

Shiro sputters, face going fully red. Adam laughs.

“Come on, Takashi, you don’t have to be coy. I saw the way you looked at each other. How long have you been together?”

Shiro gapes at him. “We’re… we’re not together,” he stutters out. “Keith and I are not…” he swallows hard. “We’re best friends. Nothing else.”

Adam blinks at him. “Really,” he says, deadpan. “So you were platonically giving him mooneyes and staring at his ass?”

“Yes?” Takashi still looks so young when he is on the verge of pouting. A familiar curl of affection snakes its way through Adam’s veins.

He still pins Shiro with a look. “And you’re going to try and tell me that you don’t _want_ to be more than friends?”

Shiro shakes his head. “No, this is not what we’re talking about right now.”

“No?”

“Do you want me to interrogate you about your love life?”

“It’s pretty non-existent considering I’m the only human out here,” Adam shoots back, “so you can if you want.”

Shiro snorts. “The lack of other humans around really doesn’t stop most people. Matt’s in a serious relationship with an AI.”

“That surprises me not even a little bit.”

“Fair.”

“So, the Holts are alright?” Adam ventures. “Earth?”

“Oh right, you said you didn’t get much news out here.” Shiro settles against the desk next to Adam. “Holts are all doing great. Colleen is still terrorizing the Garrison, Sam’s doing his best to keep them on a good path. Matt’s with the Coalition doing aid missions and working on getting a mobile lab set up so he can continue his research. Pidge is doing research on Earth that I don’t understand but she sends me updates frequently anyways,” Shiro rattles off. “Earth is rebuilding. The Galra occupation decimated… a lot. But they’re a galactic hub now, one of the places the Coalition uses as a base.”

“Good,” Adam says. “And you? How are you doing, Takashi?” He hesitates before turning and wrapping careful fingers around his left wrist. He can feel the pound of Shiro’s pulse there, fast and strong.

“The disease is gone, Adam,” Shiro says quietly, wonder seeping into his voice. “A lot of not-great stuff happened to result in me not being sick anymore, but it’s the silver lining out of everything.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Adam says, squeezing his wrist and hoping his sincerity is audible. He feels like he’s speaking around a lump in his throat. The disease that scared them both being _gone_ feels surreal and a bit like a miracle. “You look good, you know,” he continues. “Happy.”

Shiro smiles and it’s radiant. “I am. I’m out here exploring space and helping people. It’s not all pretty, not even mostly pretty, but it’s _good_.”

Adam trails his hand down to squeeze Takashi’s hand before withdrawing. “I’m so glad,” he says. His heart is full at the fact that Takashi is living the dream he’d always whispered about late at night, the one he never really thought he’d be able to achieve but ached for anyways.

Shiro steers the conversation to what Adam’s been doing here since the prison’s liberation, neatly skirting the fraught topic of being a prisoner of the Galra and the scars on both of their faces.

They’ll have time for those conversations later, Adam hopes as he tucks another one of Takashi’s smiles close to his heart, memorizing the way the slightly altered ways his face crinkles now. He’s going to make sure he has time to relearn Shiro and discover all the ways Keith has changed.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Keith tries to throw himself into the work of helping seek out the former prisoners and offering them assistance, but he realizes quickly that he’s hindering more than helping. He pulls his hood up and retreats to the office Trit and the large Vridian, Yirlb, had offered for his use to start on the mission report.

He chews on his bottom lip as he stares at the blank field on the report form, unable to tear his mind away from the fact that Adam is _alive_. He’d been with Shiro when Sam broke the news to him and had done his best to support him through the short time of grieving he’d allowed himself while also grieving the loss himself.

Keith and Adam had never been as close as Keith and Shiro but they were friendly. Adam saw the same potential in him that Shiro did and tried his best to support him. He always slipped Keith a second helping of food in a tupperware container after he and Shiro had him over for movie night and a dinner Adam threw together and generally was a friendly presence in his life. 

Keith had given him the cold shoulder after the way the break up with Shiro went down, but they’d still sought each other out in the aftermath of the Kerberos mission failure, needing, at least for a couple hours, to be around someone else who loved Shiro and understood the enormity of his loss.

Adam had tried multiple times to reach out to Keith after that, to pull him out of the downward spiral he was in, but Keith lashed out at the helping hand every time and then disappeared into the desert without so much as a goodbye. That was what he regretted most when he’d learned of Adam’s supposed death.

He pulls in a deep breath. Adam’s alive and he’s with Shiro and Keith’s not an idiot. He saw the way they looked at each other. He thought maybe… maybe he and Shiro were heading towards something, but he should know better than to still be holding onto that hope after almost a decade. Shiro’s not just going to wake up one day and see Keith in a new light and Keith needs to accept that.

If Adam and Shiro get back together, Keith will do his best to support them and make sure Adam doesn’t hurt Shiro again. Giving them time to themselves to catch up is what a best friend would do, he tells himself, so he clears Shiro’s schedule and assigns his duties to himself.

Shiro will probably give him hell for it later but it's fine. As long as Shiro ends up happy.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Shiro’s comm pings a varga into his conversation with Adam. He pulls it out expecting a message from Keith that he needs help with something; instead it’s an automated message from the calendar system that his duty schedule has changed.

He clenches his jaw as he looks as his suddenly completely clear schedule for the rest of the mission. A few taps takes him to Keith’s schedule and his suspicions are confirmed when he sees all the shifts he was supposed to work are now assigned to Keith.

“Takashi? Is everything okay?”

Shiro glances up at Adam and smiles tightly. “Do you know where they may have stashed Keith? An office or somewhere?”

“I can find out,” Adam replies, reaching for his tablet. “Is he in trouble?”

“He will be when I find him,” Shiro mutters.

“Oh?”

“Nothing serious,” Shiro assures him.

Adam finds the office they set the Blades up in and offers to lead Shiro to it.

“Are you sure Keith will be there?” He asks as they move through the halls.

“If he’s resorted to changing schedules around, he’s stuck in an office somewhere,” Shiro retorts. “Probably figured out that his team is working too efficiently for him to stick his nose in and he refuses to hover where he’s not needed.”

Adam puts a hand on his arm and pulls him to a stop outside of a door. “This one,” he says.

Shiro takes a deep breath and then walks in without knocking. Adam follows him in, softly closing the door behind him.

Keith looks up from his datapad with a surprised expression, movement dislodging the hood he’d pulled back up over his head. “Shiro? Is something wrong?”

Shiro raises his eyebrows. “Yeah. Any reason you cleared my schedule without asking?” He keeps his voice even, fighting not to snap at him until he gets an explanation. Keith had looked a little off when he’d left with Trit earlier, fragile almost.

Keith’s eyes flick over to where Adam’s leaning against the closed door before meeting Shiro’s eyes again. They’re shuttered, not showing the amount of emotion Shiro is used to seeing from his best friend and his worry increases. 

“Just thought you’d like to have time to catch up with Adam,” he says. “I can handle a little bit of extra work to give it to you.”

Shiro’s lips press into a stubborn line. “I’m not abandoning my work. Would you do this for any of your other Blades?”

Keith’s eyes shifting off to the side is answer enough. “You’re not just anyone, Shiro.”

“I don’t need special treatment,” Shiro argues.

“I’m not saying you do,” Keith shoots back.

“Then stop trying to give it to me!” Shiro winces as the words come out sharper than he intends, frustration getting the better of him. “You know some of the Blades don’t think I should even wear the uniform,” he says softer. “Don’t give them any more ammunition.”

Keith straightens at that, eyes darkening and fingers digging into the desk. “Has that started up again?”

“Not too bad,” Shiro tries to assure him. “Just the usual scattered whispers of favoritism and that a human shouldn’t be allowed to sully the history of the Blades or whatever.”

Keith hisses under his breath.

“So, not to interrupt,” Adam cuts in, making them both startle. He smirks at the obvious sign that they’d forgotten he was in the room. “But why would the Blades have issue with a human being a volunteer member of the organization when you lead them, Keith? Seems… counterintuitive.”

Shiro freezes and exchanges a glance with Keith. He’d mentioned Keith’s mom earlier, but neither of them had dropped the bomb of his heritage. Shiro watches Keith swallow and then square his shoulders as he faces Adam.

He’s come so far from being ashamed of who he is, Shiro thinks as he watches him lock eyes with Adam.

“The Blades historically only accept members who have Galra heritage,” Keith explains. “It’s why Shiro is a volunteer and not a full Blade.” He reaches for his blade and pulls it off his belt to hold it horizontally in front of him. “They don’t have an issue with me because I’m a fully initiated Blade.”

Shiro watches the blade lengthen from dagger to sword with a muted flash before looking over to Adam to see how he’s reacting. There’s surprise on his face, a smidge of wonder at seeing the blade transform, but no horror or revulsion.

Shiro holds his breath anyways, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“I’m half Galra, Adam,” Keith says, keeping his eyes on the other man. “My mom is a Blade of Marmora member as well, though she’s dealing with politics now.”

Adam’s eyebrows climb up his forehead. “Well, I feel this explains a lot about you.”

Shiro snorts as he takes in Keith’s mildly offended expression. “Absolutely not the worst reaction to that news,” he points out. “Lance screamed.”

They don’t talk about Allura’s reaction. It’s one that’s been repeated by others to varying degrees too many times to turn into a joke.

Keith rolls his eyes.

“I take it people don’t always react well, then,” Adam says.

“That’s an understatement,” Keith mutters. His blade shimmers and retracts back into dagger form and he reattaches it to his belt. “Lots of people suffered under Galra rule and don’t take well to meeting any more, especially when they can’t identify me as one at a glance.”

“Mmm.” Adam nods. “Thanks for telling me.”

Keith eyes him for another moment before nodding. “Yeah. Course.”

“Okay, back to the point,” Shiro redirects. “Change the schedule back. I’ll have plenty of time to catch up with Adam. You will too if you don’t take on both of our duties. Adam’s a big boy, he doesn’t need me hovering over him just because I found out he’s alive after all.”

Keith raises an eyebrow and Shiro feels his cheeks heat. “We were doing some mutual hovering last time,” he mutters, thinking back to the time after Allura transferred his soul into this body and he and Keith essentially refused to be in separate rooms for several days. “That was different.”

“If you say so,” Keith says. He taps on his datapad and Shiro’s comm buzzes, informing him of another schedule change.

Shiro smiles at him, gentle as anything. “Thank you.”

Color blooms high on Keith’s cheekbones as he ducks his head and mumbles a “You’re welcome.”

“If you need another set of hands, mine are available,” Adam puts in. “I’ve still got an eye for numbers. Been handling supply lines and logistics for the moon since the liberation.”

Shiro snickers.

Keith narrows his eyes at Adam. “How long have you been holding onto that pun?”

Adam grins, all wicked humor. “No one around here’s appreciated it.”

“Can’t believe I have to put up with both of your abysmal senses of humor now,” he mutters, but Shiro can see the way his mouth is tugging into a smile.

“You think we’re hilarious, don’t lie,” Shiro teases.

Keith snorts and pulls something new up on his datapad. “Adam, if you have time, I can put you with Vaylix who’s heading supply distribution. I don’t know if you have things you need to finish up here first but…”

“I can finish it in about a varga. Give me another half varga after that to throw my stuff in a bag and then I’m yours to do with as you please.”

Shiro slants a sharp look at Adam, hearing the double entendre there and seeing the curl of Adam’s lip that says he did it on purpose. So much for not being attracted to aliens, he thinks. But then again, it’s Keith and Keith in that _suit_ and he’d be the biggest hypocrite to fault Adam for seeing that and _wanting_. 

Keith doesn’t react, the comment going straight over his head as he continues to type on his datapad. Adam catches Shiro looking at him and winks. Shiro rolls his eyes but he can feel his cheeks heating.

Somehow he’d forgotten how much of a flirt Adam can be when he sets his mind to it. Adam always enjoyed flustering Shiro with lines that ranged from incredibly smooth to outrageously corny. Apparently, he hasn’t lost that particular skill and is ready to turn it on anyone within range.

He’ll be amazed if Adam can get a reaction from Keith, though. He’s been halfway flirting with his friend for years at this point and collected only a handful of blushes for his trouble.

Guess he’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out. Keith and Adam both deserve happiness, there’s just a squirming feeling in his stomach when the thought of them finding it together rears its head. Shiro stomps it down. He’ll deal with it if it ever actually comes up in reality.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

The operation on Wratix goes smoothly once it gets started. Most of the inhabitants choose to take the Blades offer of transport to a major hub. Adam ends up working alongside Shiro and Keith as they deal with the little emergencies that pop up on any mission. Adam is impressed with the respect Keith’s team obviously has for him and the easy way Keith and Shiro work together. It speaks to the years they’ve spent having each others' backs in war, but Adam also sees familiar flashes of the friendship that started back at the Garrison and has grown into this unbreakable bond.

Takashi tossed him an energy bar around dinner time and then disappeared again and it’s been a while since he’s seen either of them. Adam sits down on the floor of the office Keith has been avoiding, back to the wall and legs stretched out in front of him as he tears into the energy bar. He lets out an embarrassingly loud groan as the taste of chocolate hits his tongue. It’s been _so long_.

A huff of laughter pulls him out of his chocolate induced ecstacy. “That hungry?” Keith asks, leaning up against the doorframe with an amused look on his face. Pieces of hair have struggled free of his braid, but it’s the only sign that he’s had a long day.

“Chocolate,” Adam says reverently.

“Ah,” Keith says. He moves a chair out of the way and joins Adam on the floor, back to the desk and one knee pulled up to rest his arm on. “Shiro’s spoiling you. He usually doesn’t share those.”

“Oh?” Adam asks through another bite.

Keith smirks. “You know how much he likes chocolate. He hoards them to make sure he has enough between visits with Hunk.”

“Doesn’t even share with you?”

Keith shrugs. “Don’t have much of a sweet tooth so I let him have them.”

“Your loss,” Adam says with a smile.

He finishes the bar quickly, stealing glances at Keith who’s now got his head in his hand and is just watching Adam calmly.

“Do I have something on my face?” Adam quips.

“No,” Keith responds. “It’s just good to have you back. I’m sorry about not telling you bye before I left, before,” he says. “I regretted that, especially when we got back to Earth and found out you were gone.”

Adam’s bowled over by the quiet maturity of Keith’s words. The scrappy kid he’d once known would’ve avoided this conversation like the plague, not started it. “It’s fine,” he says. “We were both grieving in our own ways and they didn’t mesh well. I did worry about you, though. Didn’t know where you would go outside of the Garrison.”

“Did Shiro ever tell you about my shack?” Keith asks.

Adam shakes his head.

“My dad had a shack out in the desert. Just a couple rooms but it’s got water and the basic necessities and it’s technically mine. Went there.” He gestures with his free hand. “Did some odd jobs in the nearby towns for grocery money, went a little crazy with conspiracies, then I stole Shiro from Garrison containment.”

That draws a snort from Adam. “I saw that footage. You completely took out everyone before they could even raise an alarm. Terrible disguise though.”

Keith cracks a smile. “I was in a hurry, it’s what I had.”

“Excuses,” he teases. His fingers itch to ruffle Keith’s hair like he did when Keith was younger and shorter, but he’s across the room and Adam’s intentions are far more questionable than they were in the past. He really wants to know if Keith’s hair is as soft as it looks. He doesn’t remember.

Humor sparks in Keith’s eyes, brightening the violet. Adam wonders if the color is due to his Galra genes. He’s still never met anyone else with eyes like that.

Shiro walks into the office with a cursory knock, looking down at a datapad. “Keith, I think the teams are done for the night. Do you want—” He freezes as he looks at the desk and doesn’t see Keith sitting there.

Adam watches with amusement as Keith bites his lip and then clears his throat, looking up at Shiro.

“What are you doing on the floor?”

“Adam was on the floor,” Keith says.

Takashi looks over and Adam waves at him, earning an eye roll. “And what are you doing on the floor?”

“Comfy.” He pats the floor next to him. “Come sit.”

Shiro hesitates before sinking down to sit on the floor with them. “This is not actually comfortable,” he says.

“Adam was too blissed out on chocolate to care if it was comfortable,” Keith retorts, giving Shiro a look.

Adam watches with interest as Shiro blushes under it. “I figured he hadn’t had any since he was last on Earth,” Shiro mutters.

“I hadn’t,” Adam says. He leans over and bumps his shoulder against Shiro’s. “Thanks, Takashi.”

He just catches Keith looking away, thumb rubbing against his closed fist, and wonders at it. The confidence of earlier has faltered for some reason. “What were you asking when you came in, Shiro?” Keith asks after a moment.

“Oh, I think everyone’s done for the evening. There’s a few things to finish tomorrow when we have light again but they wanted the okay to pack up for the day and start assigning passengers quarters on the ship.”

Keith sighs. “Yeah, I’ll go let them know. Thanks, Shiro.” He pulls himself to his feet, grabbing his datapad off the desk. “I think there’s an empty room on our hall if you want to assign it to Adam,” he says, not looking at them. “I’ll catch up later when everyone’s sorted for the night.”

He walks out the door and Adam is left with a very befuddled Takashi.

“Did I say something?” He asks. “Or interrupt something?”

“No,” Adam says, “we were just talking for a few minutes.” He is starting to suspect the reason Keith goes quiet when he and Takashi interact but if Shiro can’t figure it out himself, maybe Keith doesn’t want him to know. “I think he’s just preoccupied.”

Shiro doesn’t look away from the door. “Yeah.”

“So, about that room,” Adam starts. “If it has a bed I want to go there immediately. I lied about this floor being comfortable.”

Shiro laughs. “Yeah alright, let me assign it to you and then I’ll show you the way.”

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Shiro gets Adam settled in a room two down from Keith’s and three from his and then excuses himself to go find Keith after making sure Adam has their comm codes if he needs anything. Part of him wants to stay with Adam, catch up more and revel in the fact that he’s _alive_ , but Keith was acting _off_ earlier and Shiro’s worried.

He tracks him down to the command deck. The place is mostly deserted, just a skeleton crew to monitor communications and defense systems. Keith is curled up in the overlarge command chair, datapad asleep on his lap and staring out at the horizon beyond the viewscreens.

“You okay?” Shiro asks quietly.

Keith jumps. Shiro sends his Altean hand flying to catch his datapad before it hits the floor. He offers it back to Keith with a sheepish look.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. You usually hear me walk up,” he says.

“Zoned out,” Keith admits, “and you still walk quietly.”

“Mmm,” Shiro hums. “So. You okay?”

Keith looks around at the crew and then jerks his head towards the door. “Walk with me?”

“Always,” Shiro answers. Makes sense that Keith would want to talk away from the ears of their colleagues who all have better hearing than them, especially if whatever’s troubling him is personal.

Keith guides them back towards the living quarters and stops in front of Shiro’s door. “Mind if I come in?”

That throws Shiro off balance; Keith doesn’t usually feel the need to ask. Shiro nods and presses his hand to the lock to let them both in.

“Seriously, Keith,” he says as he herds him into the small space to sit on the bed, “you’re worrying me.”

“Sorry,” Keith mumbles, dropping his chin so that his bangs fall in his face, shielding him from view. “Nothing’s wrong. I guess finding Adam here threw me for a loop today.”

“Oh?”

Keith shrugs, still not looking at Shiro.

Shiro nudges him with his shoulder. “Threw me a little too, you know.”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees. “Have the two of you had a chance to really talk? I know you didn’t like the way things ended before.”

That’s an understatement if Shiro’s ever heard one. The breakup between him and Adam wasn’t pretty and they’d both said things they likely didn’t mean. Shiro hated the way they left things, especially when he found out Adam was gone and he couldn’t set them right. If nothing else, he’d wanted to be friends with Adam, still.

“We haven’t talked about how things ended yet,” Shiro admits. “Figure we’ll have time for heavier conversations later.”

Keith’s hands fist in his lap. “Are you going to go back to Earth with him?”

The words hit Shiro like a punch. “What? No! Where’d you get that idea?”

Keith finally looks up at him, wide-eyed and vulnerable in a way that feels like another blow. “I just thought you might… I don’t know. I saw the two of you today, you still connect like you did before you started fighting. I thought you might want to…” he trails off, clenching his jaw.

“Keith, I’m not going to ditch the Blades just because Adam’s alive. I didn’t stay on Earth for him last time and I’m not going back there for him now, even if he asks.”

 _I’m not picking him over you_ , Shiro doesn’t say, though the words stick in his throat.

“Even if you get back together?”

Shiro pulls in a slow breath, all of the emotions of the day starting to swirl together and swamp him. “I’m not saying there’s not a _chance_ of that happening,” he starts. “Me and Adam getting back together, I mean. But it’s not something that is a foregone conclusion. We’re both different people now.”

Shiro and Adam just might not be romantically compatible anymore after the explosion of their split. And from what he’d seen today, Adam might be as interested in Keith as Shiro is. 

“Still get along though,” Keith points out, mulish to the end.

“Still have a messy breakup in our past,” Shiro counters. “And even if we decide to try again, I’m not leaving the Blades unless you kick me out. I love what we do, Keith. This… this is my _dream_. You gave me the chance to keep living it after they grounded Atlas and I’m not going to throw it away.”

Keith finally smiles a little, tension draining out of his shoulders. “Yeah, okay, Shiro.”

“So you’re okay? That what’s been worrying you all day? That I might decide to head back to Earth after working so hard to get out here?”

Keith shoves at him. “Sounds dumb when you put it like that.”

Shiro retaliates with an arm around Keith’s shoulder, pulling him close. “Not dumb. Just don’t shut me out, okay?” He pauses before deciding to add, “And I know Adam wants to spend time with you, too.”

“He’ll have a time trying to pry both of us away from work in the middle of a mission,” Keith muses, leaning his head against Shiro’s shoulder.

“He’s almost as much of a workaholic as me,” Shiro reminds him. “Give him something to do if there’s extra work to go around. That way he’s not waiting on either of us. Plus, he’s got to have friends amongst the other refugees. Trit seemed like a friend."

Keith snorts. “Trit has a crush on him.”

“Oh?” Shiro’s intrigued. “Do tell.”

“Hung onto his every word and kept calling him _rillan_.”

“And that means…”

“It’s an honorific,” Keith tells him. “Usually used to denote respect and admiration.”

“So Trit was announcing his crush to the world?” Shiro asks, amused.

“Kinda. It can be used platonically, but in context with how he was acting… yeah.”

“Interesting,” Shiro says. “Do you think Adam knows?”

Keith shrugs. “He always seemed pretty observant to me, but you know him better.”

“He’s much better at seeing those things than I am,” Shiro says with a self-deprecating laugh. “Apparently I’m oblivious most of the time to anyone’s romantic intentions towards myself. I didn’t realize Adam was taking me on dates until somewhere around date four.”

Keith mumbles something under his breath that Shiro doesn’t quite catch.

“Not important,” he says when Shiro asks him to repeat it. “But I can probably find something for Adam to do, especially since we’ve already separated him from the other refugees.”

“With so many people aboard, the quartermaster can probably use some extra hands,” Shiro muses. “Plus Adam would be a familiar face that could put the others at ease if they need to ask for something.”

“Good idea. I’ll talk to Grynda when we’re back on shift.” Keith gives him a sidelong look. “Since I’m assuming you’ll lecture me if I try to do it now.”

Shiro grins and bumps their shoulders together again. “You make everyone else take breaks. Someone has to make sure you do, too.”

“But—”

“You have your comms on. They will call if there’s anything needing your attention,” Shiro cuts him off, knowing this argument well.

Keith groans. “I hate that you are using the arguments I used on you when you had Atlas against me now.”

“They were good,” Shiro teases. “I took notes.”

Keith slumps, leaning over to rest his head on Shiro’s shoulder with a sigh.

“You sure you’re okay?” Shiro asks quietly. The warmth and weight of Keith at his side is soothing.

“Yeah,” Keith lets out on a breath. “Just everything catching up with me, I guess.”

“I know the feeling,” Shiro says. He rests his head on Keith’s and lets the calm of the moment, stolen though it may be, sink into his bones. They stay that way for a minute before Shiro feels obligated to tell Keith he should go get some sleep.

Keith hesitates for a moment, almost nuzzling into Shiro in a move that makes Shiro’s heart stutter before pulling away and offering a goodnight and a smile that’s more at ease than it was earlier.

Shiro stumbles through his own goodnight as Keith lets himself out and then flops back on his bed, head full of the two men who’ve made such lasting marks on his heart.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

They stay on Wratix for another two quintants to distribute supplies and give people time to transfer any belongings onto the ship if they’re leaving, and make the decision whether to leave or stay. Keith stays busy the whole time, mostly seeing Shiro and Adam in passing when his duties intersect with theirs or when he’s bullied into a food break by one of them when they can pin him down.

They’ve been in flight towards the transport hub for a day when the three of them finally manage to steal some time to hang out. Really, they should all be sleeping, but Shiro shows up at Keith’s door with a grin made wholly of mischief, a bag of alien popcorn, and Adam on his heels and Keith can do nothing but let them in and fish two Galran beers out of the cooler drawer to share.

Adam raises an eyebrow at there only being two and Keith grins, all sharp teeth. “Believe me,” he says, “you’re going to only want half. Shiro can tell you all about the time he forgot Galra beer is liquor strength for humans.”

Shiro groans and steals a pillow from Keith’s bed to sit on. “Just for bringing that up, I’m not sharing the popcorn.”

“Good thing it’s tigwe and not popcorn then,” Keith shoots back. He twists the cap off his beer and settles on the floor with the other two, sitting crosslegged. The room is designed for a single average-sized Galra, which means there is barely room for the three of them to squeeze in.

“I want to hear about Takashi getting trashed on accident,” Adam chimes in before taking a sip of beer. He makes a face as it hits his tongue and Keith snickers. “You didn’t warn me about the _taste_ ,” he complains.

“It’s an acquired taste,” Shiro shoots back, plucking it out of Adam’s hand and taking a swig without any reaction.

“So it’s palatable after it destroys your taste buds,” Adam drawls out.

“That’s assuming Shiro had any to start with,” Keith puts in.

Shiro aims a kick at Keith’s knee, making weak contact. “You’re one to talk.”

“Galra taste buds,” he counters before taking a drink. “So I have the excuse of having a cat tongue. You don’t.”

Shiro and Adam both look at him with twin expressions of interest and surprise.

“Cat tongue?” Shiro asks faintly.

Keith feels his cheeks heat. “Um, yeah? It’s got a similar texture? Not quite as rough though?” He tugs on the end of his braid, tucking the loose hairs between his fingers. “I didn’t realize that everyone’s tongue wasn’t like that until Pidge licked me once.”

Adam looks intrigued. Shiro’s face looks as flushed as Keith’s feels.

“Pidge licked you?”

“I made the mistake of covering her mouth to try and prevent her from saying something embarrassing,” Keith says with a shrug. “She licked my hand.”

“That sounds like something she’d do,” Shiro says.

Adam steals the beer back after Shiro tips it up for another drink. “You’re sharing, remember?”

Shiro pouts and Keith can’t help but smile at them, half hiding it behind his own bottle. He leans over and steals the bag of tigwe out of Shiro’s lap.

“So,” he starts, “the Blades keeping you busy enough to avoid boredom?”

Adam opens his mouth to answer but Shiro beats him to it. “No work talk,” he orders.

Keith makes a face. “But work is all we’ve done for the last few quintants.”

“Good thing that we have several years still to cover, then,” Adam says.

“I guess,” Keith says. He leans back against the wall. “What do you want to know?”

Adam grins. “I want to hear about Takashi getting trashed.”

“Nooo,” Shiro whines.

Keith laughs. “Oh, but there are stories even more embarrassing than that,” he promises. The easy camaraderie in the room fizzes in his blood, as potent as the alcohol.

Adam’s eyebrows go up, interest sparking in his eye. “Are there pictures?”

“No.” Shiro cuts in.

“Better,” Keith says over him. “Video. Sent out to the whole galaxy.”

“Keith, don’t you dare,” Shiro warns. “How do you even have those?”

“The Blades had movie nights, Shiro,” Keith says, desperately trying to keep a straight face. “It was the best entertainment we could get our hands on.”

Adam steals the bag of tigwe back from Keith and hands the beer to Shiro. “If you don’t clarify soon, I’m going to start assuming Takashi has sex tapes out there.”

Shiro sputters and Keith can’t hold back his full-bodied laugh.

“Oh my god,” Keith manages to say, gasping for air.

“I almost wish it was a sex tape,” Shiro mutters, mutinous. “It might be less embarrassing.”

“Oh?”

Keith sets his beer to the side and crawls over to where his datapad is sitting on the nightstand.

“Why do you just _have_ them saved?” Shiro whines.

“Blackmail purposes,” Keith deadpans, not willing to admit out loud that he used to watch them when missing Shiro was a physical ache.

“I hate you so much right now. Why can’t we just talk about me being drunk and stupid?”

“No you don’t,” Keith says, settling back on the floor and quickly navigating to the folder with the recordings saved. “And also no. Adam should get to experience The Voltron Show with you sitting here instead of inevitably hearing about it elsewhere.”

“The Voltron Show?” Adam asks. “Are you in it too, then?”

“God no,” Keith says vehemently. “I was with the Blades when they did that. Allura played me in the show.”

Adam’s brow furrows. “That’s… odd.”

“She actually did a good impression of Keith brooding,” Shiro puts in.

Keith makes a face at him and pulls up one of the ice shows just to get him back. He hits play and hands the pad to Adam. “Voltron on Ice,” he says.

“ _No._ ” Shiro says, reaching for the pad. Adam leans out of range with a laugh as the music and lights come up on the show.

“Oh, the armor looks good on you,” he says.

Shiro buries his face in his hands. “We could’ve just stuck to the drunk stories,” he laments. “At least those were actually, fully me.”

Keith’s stomach clenches at the reminder that Shiro had technically been trapped in Black’s consciousness while the Voltron Show was happening.

“Are you divorcing yourself from any association with this?” Adam asks with laughter in his voice, not looking away from the pad. “I really don’t blame you.”

Keith watches as Shiro takes a long drink of beer. “Technically, that was my clone,” he says, voice wavering just slightly.

That gets Adam’s attention. He looks up sharply, the glare from the datapad highlighting the scarring up the side of his face. “That’s… that’s what you’re going with?”

“He’s being serious,” Keith says with a sigh.

The noise of the recording is a poor backdrop for the serious turn in the conversation.

“Remember when I said a lot of not great things happened that resulted in my disease being gone?” Shiro asks.

Adam nods.

“I was cloned. I technically died in a battle but my lion, Black, saved my consciousness or soul or whatever you want to call it. The witch, Haggar, made several clones of me from whatever samples she had from my captivity.”

“More than several,” Keith mutters, unable to banish the image of the clone facility and pod after pod after pod that contained copies of Shiro. He still has nightmares about it. His jaw clenches along with the hand not toying with his beer bottle.

Shiro leans over and lays a hand over Keith’s clenched fist. He squeezes gently and catches his eye with an apologetic look before turning back towards Adam, leaving his hand on Keith’s.

“More than several,” he agrees before forging ahead. “The clone she sent to infiltrate the team, the one who did the Voltron Show, was fully healthy. No trace of the disease.”

“ _Is_ healthy,” Keith stresses, turning his hand over to squeeze Shiro’s. He likes to remind Shiro of that when it comes up. He knows Shiro goes to visit medical more than is strictly necessary to get checked for any traces of the disease or other oddities the clone body might be hiding.

Adam blinks rapidly a few times. “You still have a clone?”

Shiro opens his mouth and then closes it again. He looks over at Keith, uncertainty clear in his eyes. 

“Not exactly,” Keith says. “After we figured out what was going on and where Shiro was, Allura put Shiro’s soul into the clone’s body. The transfer is what bleached out his hair.”

Shiro quirks a ghost of a smile at him for the lighthearted observation. “I have all of his memories and they feel like mine, mostly. He thought he was me and was, in most of the essentials.”

Keith presses his lips together. He and Shiro have talked about this before, but Keith still feels like he should have figured things out sooner somehow.

“Okay,” Adam breathes out after a couple of seconds. He takes the beer and downs a couple of gulps. “So you don’t still have a twin wandering around?”

“Not that we know of,” Shiro says.

“And everything’s fine?”

“Been kicking around in this body for more than a few years at this point,” Shiro says with a hint of levity entering his tone now. “So far, so good.”

“But you’ve still got the memories of acting in this atrocity?” Adam asks, gesturing back at the datapad still playing Voltron on Ice. “Seems like a terrible deal.”

Shiro snorts and it devolves quickly into laughter, dragging smiles from both Keith and Adam. Keith’s heart twinges a little when Shiro draws his hand back, but Adam catches his eye with a soft smile and the little flutter that causes distracts him.

“Okay,” Keith says, “back to embarrassing stories. Still want me to tell you about Shiro getting drunk off his ass and trying to explain the tradition of karaoke to a bunch of Blade members?”

Adam scoots closer to Keith, their knees touching in the small space. “I want to hear everything.”

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

After their hangout in Keith’s room, Adam makes a point of trying to spend more time with both of them. The arrival to the transport hub is looming and with it, a decision. When he goes to spend time in the common areas with the other former prisoners, he’s surrounded with the excited buzz of people planning trips back to their home planets, of people who’ve managed to make contact with family and friends as they move closer to civilization.

Adam can’t quite muster the same excitement. He puts on a strained smile when acquaintances and almost-friends seek him out to ask his plans and mumbles something about Earth and shifts the conversation back to their plans.

The thing is, there’s nothing waiting for Adam on Earth, nothing calling him back there except a sense of nostalgia and a craving for the good Mexican food in the town just outside the Garrison campus. His mom has been gone for years and while he’s pretty sure there’s probably some cousins kicking around somewhere, he hasn’t seen them since a family reunion when he was fifteen.

Adam slips into his room, relishing the quiet of the corridor and the knowledge that the only people who will come to find him are Keith or Takashi. He sits on the bed and kicks off his shoes before flopping down on his back.

He doesn’t know what he’d even do back on Earth. The Garrison would probably take one look at him and medically discharge him as soon as they finished the paperwork reversing his presumed death. He doesn’t know what the rebuilding effort on Earth looks like or if it has a place for him or if he even _wants_ to go back.

Exploring space was never his dream; launching into space to push the boundaries of human knowledge was always Takashi’s goal. The thing is, though, now that he’s out here he realizes there’s so much to _see_ and _learn_.

Maybe he doesn’t want to try and step back into the box that was his life back on Earth with its Garrison restrictions and broken relationships and creeping unease. It’d be different, with Earth as an international hub, but… he doesn’t know if he has a place there.

What he does know is that neither Takashi or Keith, the two people who have managed to remind him what home feels like, will be on Earth.

He lets out a loud sigh, allowing himself to wallow in dramatics for a moment. It’s something akin to a miracle that Keith and Shiro are _alive,_ much less that they are the ones who showed up to rescue the group of former prisoners he belonged to; he shouldn’t be hoping for another.

Adam still isn’t ready to say goodbye to them. He’s barely started getting to know who they are now.

His comm beeps at him and he pulls it out of his pocket. It’s a message from Takashi, offering to bring dinner to his quarters, if he wants.

Adam smiles and fires back an answer in the affirmative and telling him to grab Keith if he can. He’s already learned that Keith is unlikely to eat when he’s working unless someone reminds him. It’s so different from how he remembers Keith making sure to take advantage of every meal offered by the Garrison. He’d never talked to Keith about it, but it was obvious that the sharp memory of hunger plagued his steps back then.

Adam sets his comm aside and closes his eyes. He’s got at least half a varga before Shiro shows up, he might as well try and nap or mull over his options for when they get to the transport hub.

He’s almost half asleep when it finally occurs to him that he doesn’t have to go back to Earth. There is nothing requiring him to. He could go _anywhere_.

Maybe… maybe he can find his place.

There’s a quiet knock on the door before he can follow that thought any further. Adam drags himself to his feet to open it. Takashi is on the other side with two to-go containers and a tired smile. Keith is right behind him, exhaustion stamped on his face.

“Come on in,” he says, stepping aside to let them enter. “You both look like hell.”

“Fights started when we posted disembarking order earlier,” Keith says. The door slides closed behind him and he immediately finds a place on the floor. “Everyone wants off the ship first.”

Adam frowns. “How much time difference between first off and last?”

Keith shoots him a resigned look. “Two vargas.”

Adam winces. “Anything I can do to help calm things down?”

“It’s not your job,” Keith says. He tilts his head back to rest against the wall, closing his eyes. Adam’s eyes drop to trace the long line of his neck, covered though it is by his suit.

“No, but I’m offering,” Adam says. He looks over at Takashi, spying frustration on his face.

“It’s under control now,” Shiro says. “It just took a bit.” His lips press into a thin line as he looks over at Keith, worry clear.

“Well, I vote we eat and veto work talk again,” Adam says briskly. “You both need a break.”

“Don’t have time for breaks,” Keith mutters, not opening his eyes.

“Yes you do,” Shiro insists. He hands one of the to-go boxes to Adam and opens his own.

Adam is two bites in when he realizes that Keith isn’t eating. He makes eye contact with Shiro and raises his eyebrows. They’re all sitting on the floor again so it doesn’t take much for Shiro to lean over to nudge Keith.

“I got enough to share,” he says. “You need to eat.”

“I need to get back to work,” Keith retorts, but he steals what looks like a chicken tender from Shiro’s box anyways.

“You went off shift a full two vargas ago,” Shiro says. Keith opens his mouth and Shiro cuts him off. “No, we’re not having this argument again. You have your comm. They’ll call if they need you. The mission is not going to fall apart because you’re not overseeing things every second of it. Eat.”

Keith bites into his chicken strip with prejudice.

“So,” Takashi says, turning back towards Adam, “have you thought about where you’re going? I don’t think there’s a whole lot of traffic going back to Earth from out here but we can find you something.”

Adam’s stomach swoops. “I’m not sure if I want to go back,” he says slowly, looking down at his food.

“Oh?”

He looks up and finds Shiro and Keith looking at him with interest.

Adam shrugs. “Not anything waiting for me there,” he says.

“Do you know where you want to go?” Keith asks. “There’s some places I’d recommend avoiding but…”

“I was wondering, actually,” Adam starts before clamming up. He doesn’t think he’s been this nervous about asking a question since asking Takashi out on their first date. He swallows hard and forges ahead. “I was wondering if there was any chance I could stay with you two. If the Blades would take on another volunteer.”

The silence that stretches out after his query sends doubt spiralling through him. “I don’t have any desire to necessarily go on missions or force myself into a space I’m not wanted, but I think I have skills that could be useful. I’ve been working well with your team so far, I believe.”

“Adam,” Takashi cuts him off gently. “Breathe.”

Adam glares at him. “I’m breathing fine, Takashi.”

Shiro grins. “You just don’t like admitting when you start getting anxious and ramble.”

“You really want to stay with the Blades?” Keith asks, effectively ignoring their banter.

“I want to stay with you two,” Adam admits. “And the Blades seem to be doing a lot of good from what I’ve seen and you’ve told me. So, if you’ll have me, I’d like to stay.”

“And you’re sure you don’t want to go back to Earth?” Shiro asks, a cautious look on his face now.

“Do you want me to?” Adam asks sourly.

“No, but you never seemed that interested in leaving orbit before,” Shiro says.

“That was before I knew what was out here.” Adam takes a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about this. It’s not a spur of the moment thing.” Sort of true. He’s just landed on asking to help the Blades, to stay with them, but the lack of desire to go back to Earth has been there.

“We don’t go back to Earth often,” Keith says. His gaze is assessing, sharp. “And life at the Blades base is different. Less cramped than the ship but the only time you’ll see humans is when the other Paladins visit or Matt stops by. It’s not an easy life.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Adam says. “I’m willing to pull my weight. I can’t fly anymore with my eye out of commission but I can still teach the mechanics of flight if you need a teacher. I can teach a whole variety of things if you give me time to catch up on the advancements available out here. Plus I already have logistical experience that can be put to use.”

“You don’t have to convince me, Adam,” Keith says with a ghost of a smile. “I’m just trying to make sure you know what you’re getting into.”

“So you’ll take me?”

Shiro chokes and Adam gives him an unimpressed look, hoping it communicates that he needs to get his head out of the gutter for a minute.

“Yeah, of course,” Keith says, a soft, genuine smile lighting up his face. “Having you around will be great.”

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Adam settles into life at the Blades HQ like there was already a spot waiting for him to come fill it. Keith assigns him a room on the same hallway as his and Shiro’s rooms and finds him an office to work from. Brindek, their head logistical officer, is thrilled to have someone else with a head for numbers and details on board, and the training corps easily welcomes a pilot with teaching experience into their ranks.

Sometimes he thinks it should be more difficult, living amongst another species, especially one that held him prisoner for a few years, but it’s not. The Blades are used to most human customs after working with Shiro and Keith and he quickly figures out who he can ask about Galra customs when he has questions.

Outside of work, Adam finds time for dinners with Shiro and Keith and it all feels easy.

Or it would if not for the tangle of attraction and emotions steadily building in his core.

Being around Takashi again has old feelings springing warm and familiar in his heart. The horrors of war have hardened him some, but Adam still sees the man he fell in love with years and galaxies back. He likes the gravity Takashi has now, likes that it hasn’t erased his recklessness wholesale. He watches Takashi hand out orders and command respect and feels pride rise up in his heart, then he watches mischief spark in those grey eyes before a slash of a grin lights up his face as he goads Keith into something. That look still sends sparks dancing through Adam.

It’s easy to admit to himself that he’s falling in love with Takashi all over again. He’s always regretted the way things ended between them and this feels like a second chance. A better chance, even.

His attraction to Keith feels like a suckerpunch. The kid he’d always had a bit of a soft spot for had grown up unfairly hot — all long and lean and muscled with almost delicate features and silky hair Adam really wants to get his hands in. He’s all sharp edges still and if that was it, Adam could just brush this off as a physical spark, but the more he gets to know who Keith is now, the more he likes him.

Keith has settled into himself. He’s still a wildfire, still more than ready to jump straight into the middle of things, but he holds himself with confidence now. He’s not afraid to take up space, to be seen outside of a simulator or ship. He listens to the input of those around him before making big decisions when the situation allows. He’s no longer afraid to show that he cares or to believe that others care for him. His sarcasm is razor sharp and matches Adam’s own.

Adam _likes_ him. A lot.

He’s also more sure than ever that Keith and Shiro are in love with each other and just too oblivious to realize that it’s mutual and do anything about it.

So maybe things aren’t as easy as they could be.

Adam sighs and grabs another roll of bread from the middle of the table, half listening to the conversations going on around him. Keith has training tonight and Takashi has a vid call with the Garrison and Coalition about the Atlas tonight, so he’s having a quiet meal in the mess hall. He’s been on base for three phoebs now, so he could have found other friends to eat with but his head is too full of the two absent men to be able to add much to a conversation.

He throws his napkin onto his plate and moves to stand but suddenly an elbow catches him in the ribs from his left side. Adam whips his head around, not having realized that someone had joined him on his blind side. Thron gives him an amused look. Adam’s still not used to how such giants can move so silently. It’s one of the big downsides to living with a bunch of spies; he never hears them unless they want him to.

“Thron,” Adam says, raising an eyebrow as he regains his composure. “Having a good evening?”

Thron snorts. “I’m not interrupting your meal for small talk,” they say. The more time Adam’s spent among the Galra, among the Blades specifically, the more Keith’s innate hatred of small talk makes sense. “I just thought you’d like to know that Leader Keith —” Adam’s had to get used to the Blades referring to Keith as such. _Leader_ still means Kolivan to most of them and the large Galra still lends a hand when Keith needs it or asks. “— is doing sparring demonstrations in Training Room One.”

“Oh? Am I going to get roped into anything if I go down there?” Adam asks.

“No, but you might have to fight for a good spot to watch. The demonstrations always draw a crowd, especially if there’s a chance the Captain will show up to spar with him.”

Adam hasn’t actually managed to see Keith in action, yet. Since he’s not a Blade and not looking to become one or go on active missions, Adam is mostly encouraged to stay away from the training rooms when group training is in progress, which is fine by him. He knows good and well that anyone on base could pin him in a spar in less than five seconds and he prefers keeping in shape through use of the gym equipment.

Hand to hand has always been a Keith and Shiro specialty and Adam is honestly very interested in seeing them spar now. 

“Think I’ll head that way,” Adam says, standing up. “Thanks.”

Thron snickers and gives him a look that is far too knowing. Adam turns away before the blush can fully bloom on his cheeks and give him away further. At least Shiro and Keith are reliably oblivious, even if the rest of the Blades aren’t.

Adam quickly makes for the training rooms. There’s a low hum of conversation clearly audible from down the hallway as he approaches the biggest room. Adam can hear the dull thump of a well-landed hit and the grunt that follows as he pushes through to the front. The Blades move aside for him without much complaint, knowing that they can see over him easily. Adam squeezes through the last two people and freezes as he finally sees what has everyone enthralled.

Keith is taking on three Blades at once. None of them have their blades out, just straight hand to hand fighting. Keith is a blur of motion, weaving around his three opponents and landing hits as he goes.

He ducks under a punch and sweeps a leg out, sending one opponent to the ground. Keith is back on his feet in an instant, catching a blow from one of the other Blades on his forearm. He grips the guy’s forearm and twists him around, taking his feet out from under him in the same movement. This time, his opponent takes him to the ground with him.

Adam winces, thinking that’s game over for Keith. His advantage lies in speed and a lower center of gravity, but a wrestling match favors brute strength and size. His jaw drops as Keith twists and sends his opponent rolling away before gaining his feet again and turning to aim a high kick at the Blade making a run at him.

 _Fuck, that was hot_.

Adam knew there was strength written in the lithe lines of Keith’s body, so lovingly outlined by the damned suit, but there is a difference between knowing and _seeing_. Heat starts simmering low in his gut, spreading through him as he watches Keith continue to take the Blades apart.

Two are down for the count now, told to stay down with a growled command from Keith that was obeyed. Keith is grappling with the lone remaining opponent, a built woman Adam’s seen around at meeting before, and she has his arm twisted behind his back.

“You going to yield, Leader?” she pants out.

“Don’t get cocky,” Keith returns with a hint of a smile. Adam snorts, remembering how often those words have been directed at Keith. “In a real fight, your opponent won’t hesitate to break their arm or dislocate their shoulder to get out of a hold like this,” he instructs. “Don’t hesitate.”

With that as a warning, Keith breaks free and takes the Galra to the floor, pinning her there. “But I didn’t need to because your hold was too loose. Don’t get sloppy, even in a friendly match. It trains you to be sloppy in a real fight.”

She snarls and tries to get out of Keith’s hold. He patiently waits for her to test all the ways out, finding them all secure.

“Ready to yield?” he asks. She nods and he releases her.

Keith gets to his feet and offers her a hand up, which she takes. The other two have already gotten up and moved to the side. Adam listens through the dull roar in his ears as Keith debriefs with the three Blades, pointing out what they did well and making sure they understand the weaknesses Keith exploited and why they were ruled out of the fight when they were.

It’s wholly unfair for him to be teaching so well while still flushed from the best fight Adam’s ever seen and wrapped in that skintight suit. Adam feels personally targeted.

Keith has just dismissed them and is heading over to where Kosmo is laying against the far wall next to Keith’s towel and water bottle when a voice rises over the scattered conversations.

“Got enough energy for one more round?” Takashi asks, leaning up against the wall off to the side of the gathered crowd. He’s in sweatpants and a black tank top and has a tease of a smile on his face.

Keith looks up with a grin, hand buried in Kosmo’s fur. “For you? Always.”

Adam honestly can’t believe they’re like this all the time and still haven’t realized that they’re pining for each other. Ridiculous.

Then again, he’s standing here pining after both of them, so he hardly has room to say anything. At least he’s going to have a great view while he does so.

Shiro smirks and pushes off the wall to move onto the mats. He makes a come hither motion, goading Keith.

Keith rolls his eyes and takes a long drink from his water bottle. The wolf nudges at his hip, protesting that Keith stopped petting him. Keith sets down the bottle and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Hand to hand?” he calls out, burying his fingers in the wolf’s ruff.

Shiro clenches his metal fist then lets it relax. “Been awhile since we did blade versus fist, but I’m not in armor so… hand to hand it is.”

Keith’s answering smile is a lightning strike. “You’re on, old-timer.” He gives Kosmo one last pet and then stalks towards the mat, confidence written in every motion. “You keep challenging me when I’ve already gone a few rounds,” he teases. “Scared you can’t keep up anymore?”

“Just letting you get warmed up,” Shiro retorts.

Keith snorts as he steps onto the mat. “Because two hours of running drills and then a three-v-one fight is warming up.”

“You saying you can’t keep up?” Shiro parrots, faux innocence painted on his face.

Keith answers with a kick aimed in the space where Shiro’s upper arm should be. Shiro catches his ankle and tugs. Keith goes airborne with a grin on his face as he leverages the momentum into another attack.

Adam’s eyes go wide as he watches them trade blows. It’s obvious that they’re familiar with each other’s moves. It’s also clear that they are _incredible_ fighters.

There’s a difference in the way Keith fights as he fights Shiro as opposed to the other Blades. This is close to no holds barred. Shiro manages to land a hit to Keith’s ribs with his flesh hand. Keith snaps a kick at his knee and they go back to circling each other.

Adam’s mouth is dry. Watching them dance around each other like this is mesmerizing. The ferocity and joy shining on both of their faces is beautiful. He can’t help but imagine how this knowledge of how the other’s body moves would translate outside of the training room and what it would be like to have the chance to learn it himself.

The thought of both of them, of the _three_ of them, hits him like a punch to the gut and he’s glad that the gasp that escapes him is covered by the sounds of the fight. Adam bites his lip and pushes the thought aside to consider later when he’s alone. He really doesn’t want to miss a second of the scene in front of him.

“That all you got?” Keith teases, finally sounding a little breathless as he looks for the next opening in the fight.

Shiro smirks and strikes without warning, taking advantage of the extra range of his floating arm. He feints to that side, sending Keith that way before sliding into his space and wrenching his arm behind his back like the Blade had earlier.

“Think you’ll find that my hold isn’t loose,” Shiro says.

Keith hooks his ankle around Shiro’s and tugs in tandem with trying to jerk away from Shiro’s hold. It sends them both stumbling and Keith yanks his arm free. “That so?” he retorts.

Shiro sends his arm soaring towards Keith again and manages to grab his arm. Keith grits his teeth and aims a punch at Shiro’s midsection. Shiro drags him down to the mat where his bulk gives him an advantage. His hand slide from Keith’s bicep down to his wrist, pinning it by his head as he scrambles to gain control of the other one.

Shiro finally captures Keith’s other hand and pins it up with the other one, a knee pressing into Keith’s chest to keep him down. It looks close to a pin to Adam, but he saw Keith wiggle out from one earlier so he holds his breath and waits.

Keith seems to freeze as Shiro presses him into the mat, looming over him. Shiro is just opening his mouth to tease when Keith tears his hands from Shiro’s hold and _throws_ him with a snarl. Shiro bounces once on the mat and immediately gets to his feet, obviously anticipating Keith to be launching another attack.

But Keith is frozen, sitting up on the mat with his knees pulled to his chest. It looks like he might be close to hyperventilating. Kosmo whines from his spot on the periphery.

Shiro’s face immediately shifts to concern and he takes a step towards Keith. “Give us the room,” he says, raising his voice just loud enough to ripple through the crowd.

The assembled Blades murmur quietly before filing out. Someone tries to herd Adam out but he resists. Something’s _wrong_ with his boys and he needs to see if he can help.

Takashi looks up when someone tries to convince Adam to leave again. “He can stay. It’s fine, Deran.”

Adam shakes the hand off his shoulder and fixes his eyes back on Keith, taking a few steps closer. Shiro’s already a couple feet away, crouching down. Kosmo has pressed himself up against Keith’s back, offering what comfort he can.

“Keith,” he calls softly. “Keith, you’re okay. Can you hear me?”

Adam stays a step further back than Shiro, but from here he can see more. Keith isn’t just close to hyperventilating. His skin has taken on a lavender tint and small fangs are digging into his bottom lip as he tries to hold back a whimper.

He has so many questions but he can wait until Keith’s not having a panic attack of some sort to ask them.

“Keith,” Shiro tries again, inching closer but still not reaching out to touch. “Baby, can you look at me? Please?”

Adam startles at hearing Shiro call Keith ‘baby’, but one look at his face tells him that Shiro doesn’t even realize that he said it.

Keith still doesn’t react. Shiro reaches out slowly to rest his hand on Keith’s knee but Keith flinches back violently, eyes squeezing closed even harder.

“Tell me what’s happening?” Adam murmurs. “Quickest version.”

“Flashback,” Shiro says. “Hasn’t happened in a while so I wasn’t thinking about it when I pinned him like that. You might try to talk to him, maybe a different voice will help. I’m—” he swallows hard. “I’m part of this flashback.”

Adam rests a gentling hand on Shiro’s shoulder before turning to Keith. They can dig through all of this later, if they feel up to it. “Keith,” he says quietly, pushing down all his worry so his voice comes out even. “Keith, it’s Adam. Can you open your eyes for me?”

Keith makes a small noise and then, slowly, he opens his eyes. They’ve gone almost golden, his pupils slitted like a cat. Adam swallows his surprise to offer a small smile, aware that Keith needs a steady presence. He can also feel Takashi’s eyes on him, watching for an adverse reaction to Keith’s changes, he’s sure. Protective as always.

“Hey there,” he says. “Had us worried.”

Keith’s eyes flit away from Adam to land on Shiro, flinching slightly. Adam can see the heartbreak lodge in Shiro’s gaze.

“You’re—” Keith cuts off with a wince as one of his fangs slices open his lip. “Shiro, you’re…”

“Yeah,” Shiro says, voice breaking. “I’m here. You saved me. You’re safe.”

“You were trying to—”

“I know,” Shiro cuts in, absolutely wrecked.

Adam’s starting to piece together the shards of information with dawning horror.

Shiro reaches out, pausing before making contact with Keith. “Can I?”

Keith hesitates before nodding. Shiro immediately cups his cheek, thumb running over the scar there.

“How are you feeling?” Adam asks, scooting closer.

“Shaky,” Keith admits.

“You know where you are?”

“Headquarters. Training room,” Keith says slowly. “Not the clone facility.”

“Good,” Adam soothes. “You’re doing good. You’re here in the training room with me and Shiro and we’re all safe.”

“We were… sparring?” Keith asks, looking at Shiro. Realization washes over his face. “Oh fuck, everyone saw that.”

“It’s fine, Keith. Everyone lived through the war too, and they know you were in the middle of it,” Shiro soothes.

“They didn’t freak out in the middle of a friendly spar. _Fuck_.” His breathing picks back up, edging towards too fast.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Adam says, reaching out to rest his hand on Keith’s. Kosmo nudges Keith at the same time. “Takashi got them all out immediately so you could have some privacy and no one said anything about it.”

“Nothing happened?” Keith asks, voice tentative in a way Adam hasn’t heard since the Garrison.

“No, you just threw me off and then stayed where you were,” Shiro assures him.

Keith’s eyes snap to Shiro. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Keith,” he promises. He drops his hand from Keith’s face to rest on the hand Adam didn’t claim. “Nothing more than normal sparring bruises.”

“And nothing else happened?”

Takashi slides his hand under Keith’s, unballing his fist and running a gentle thumb over his knuckles. He slides his fingers down to where Keith’s nails have sharpened into claws. “You’ve gone a little Galra, but that’s it.”

Keith sucks in a breath as he takes in the claws and the purple visible on his wrist. He slants a panicked look towards Adam, more yellow seeping into his sclera. It takes Adam a second to realize that Keith’s scared of his reaction to seeing him like this, to seeing him look Galra instead of human.

He can feel the weight of Takashi’s gaze too.

“It’s a good look on you,” Adam says with a quirk of his lips. “Wish I’d gotten to see it under better circumstances.”

Keith snorts and then winces when one of his fangs digs into his bottom lip too hard. “Flatterer.”

“Speaking only the truth,” Adam insists. He really, really is. The changes only serve to make him more gorgeous, highlighting the dangerous edge he always has to him.

It draws a small smile from Keith which thrills like a victory in Adam’s veins. “If you say so. The whole uncontrollable minor shapeshifting thing tends to freak people out.”

“I think the only one freaking out here is you,” Adam teases. “Maybe Takashi a little bit, but that’s just because he worries.”

“Like you don’t,” Shiro shoots back.

“Maybe a little bit.”

Shiro rolls his eyes and turns back towards Keith, all earnest concern and poorly hidden guilt. 

He barely opens his mouth to speak before Keith cuts him off. “It’s not your fault, Shiro.”

“I shouldn’t have pinned you like that.”

“It was where the fight took you,” Keith snaps back.

“But I know—”

“Shiro. I haven’t had a flashback like that in a _while_. You couldn’t have known I would today.” He squeezes Shiro’s hand. “We’ve talked about this. Neither of us are going to be able to forget what happened. It’s not something you forget.”

Shiro winces.

“But we take care of the aftermath together, right?” Keith says.

“I’m supposed to be helping you right now,” Shiro protests weakly.

Keith rolls his eyes.

“Seems like this took it out of both of you,” Adam cuts in carefully. There’s intricacies at play here that he doesn’t know how to navigate exactly. “Have either of you eaten dinner?”

Keith and Shiro both shake their heads.

“Why don’t you head back to Keith’s and I’ll go grab you food so you don’t have to go to the dining hall,” he offers. It’ll give them a chance to finish talking things out while Adam gets food and be a step back towards normalcy while they eat.

“Keith?” Shiro asks, deferring to him.

“Sounds good,” Keith says. He takes a deep breath and squeezes both of their hands. “Thanks for pulling me back to the present. Both of you.” Kosmo nudges him with a quiet whine and Keith laughs. “You too, buddy.”

He looks at Adam. “Dinner sounds great. And I know you probably have questions.”

“Only if the two of you want to share,” Adam says. “It seems personal to the two of you.”

“Yeah, but you stayed through this,” Keith says, flicking a look at Shiro who nods in agreement. “You deserve to know. Especially when there’s a chance one of us will have another flashback about it.”

“He’s right,” Takashi puts in. “We can talk about it after dinner.”

“Okay,” Adam says. “I’ll go pick up food for the two of you, then. Dinner and then we can talk if you’re feeling up to it.”

He smiles at the pair of them and then gets to his feet. He can hear Takashi and Keith still whispering quietly behind him as he walks away and knows if he turns around, they’ll likely be clinging to each other.

Adam slips out of the room, letting them have the moment to themselves. They are letting him take care of them and it brings the thoughts he pushed aside earlier back to the forefront of his mind.

They work well as a trio and Adam cares for both of them so much. He’s _attracted_ to both of them on so many levels. Maybe he doesn’t have to get in between whatever Keith and Takashi have going on; maybe he can be a third anchor point.

It’s definitely something to think about, something to talk to the two of them about. Not tonight, he thinks as he steps back into the mess hall. He wants to put out a few feelers first, maybe flirt with a little more intent, and they have more than enough to deal with tonight already. But definitely soon.

He feels more settled than he has in a couple weeks as he tells the chef on duty that he needs meals to go for Leader Keith and Captain Shiro and steps to the side to wait. He has a plan and a path forward and it starts with bringing his boys a much needed meal and having what promises to be a much needed conversation.

Nerves fizz in his veins and the worry from earlier still drags at him, but he’s excited to see where this all goes.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Two weeks later, Keith is neck deep in paperwork from a mission that went off the rails a couple systems over when someone knocks on his office door. “Come in,” he calls out, signing off on another approval for medical leave and making a note to call the medical officer at Base D12 to check in on everyone soon.

“I’d lecture you on working late but…”

Keith’s head whips up, smile spreading across his face. “Mom!”

Krolia steps out of the doorway, letting the door slide shut behind her. Keith is out of his seat in a flash, rounding his desk to barrel into her for a hug.

“Hello, little one,” she says, hugging him tight.

“Didn’t know you were going to be here,” Keith says, pulling back.

“Kolivan and I are on our way out to Rytix. This is only half a varga out of our flight path and I assume you can rustle up beds for us.”

“Of course,” Keith says. “And dinner, if you’re hungry.”

Krolia touches the shadows under his eyes with the back of her finger. “Have you stopped for dinner?”

Keith has to think about it. He looks behind him and sees the untouched plate still sitting on his desk. 

Krolia follows his gaze. “I’ll take that as a no. Still dealing with the Dantu quadrant mission?”

“Yeah.” He’s not at all surprised that she and Kolivan still keep an eye on things between their own concerns with helping stabilize New Daibazaal. “Adam brought me a plate earlier but I forgot about it.”

Krolia hums. “Going to have to have to train him better. Shiro usually sits here until you eat.”

“Shiro’s been tied up with Coalition calls all day or he probably would have,” he mutters.

“Mmm, but your Adam is trying to look after you, that’s good.”

Keith blushes. “He’s not my Adam.”

Krolia raises her eyebrows. “You talk about him almost as much as Shiro, these days.”

“He’s my friend,” Keith insists. He picks up his cold plate of food in a bid at distraction. “Want to go see what’s left in the kitchen?”

“That’s what you used to say about Shiro, too.”

Keith sighs. “That’s because it’s true.”

“But you want more,” Krolia says softly. 

It’s not a question and Keith looks away, not able to meet her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I’m happy with how things are.”

It’s mostly true. Keith’s had years to get used to being in love with Shiro, years to come to terms with the fact that Shiro probably won’t love him back in the same way. He knows Shiro remembers everything about the clone facility fight. They’ve talked about it, but Shiro’s never once brought up Keith’s swords-edge confession.

Adam, though. Adam surprised him. Keith was ecstatic that they found him, that he was alive. He thought it would be nice to get to know Adam better now that they were both older. He never expected to find himself drawn to him in a similar way he is to Shiro. Adam’s funny and the quirk of his smile sends warmth through Keith. He likes him a lot and it’s thrown him for a loop.

Especially since it seems like Adam and Shiro are as interested in each other as ever. It aches, knowing that they’re probably going to rekindle things, knowing that he’ll be on the outside of it and vaguely jealous of them both, but he’s happy for them. He is.

“Oh Keith.” He’d paused too long, apparently let his emotions play across his face too plainly to hide from his mom.

“It’s fine,” he says. “I’m dealing with it.”

Krolia is silent and Keith dares to look back up at her. There’s not a trace of pity on her face, just sadness and understanding.

“You could talk to them,” she says. “They would be lucky to have you as their mate.”

Keith shakes his head and puts down the plate he’s still holding. This conversation isn’t going to be derailed, apparently. “It’s not...it’s not as common on Earth,” he tries, leading her over to the small couch in the office. “Having more than two people in a relationship, I mean.”

“They’ve both been among Galra enough to know it’s common for us,” she says. “You wouldn’t love them if they were ones to judge.”

“They wouldn’t judge,” Keith says, slumping. “I just don’t think it’s something they’d be interested in themselves. I’ve only known them to be in a relationship with each other. And they’ve dated others, but always only two people.”

“That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t consider it for the right people.” Krolia nudges him. “The right person.”

Keith bites his lip. “Even if they were interested in that kind of relationship, it wouldn’t be with me,” he says.

“You don’t know unless you talk to them,” Krolia says again. 

She wraps an arm around Keith’s shoulder and tugs him against her. He lets out a sigh, letting himself be soothed by her presence. He doesn’t get the chance to just let everything else fall to the side and tell his mom about his boy problems often and he knows she treasures these moments as much as he does, even if his heart hurts a little. 

“You know I told Shiro once,” he says into her shoulder. “He’s never even tried to talk to me about it. That’s a pretty clear sign.”

“There was a lot going on back then, little one. Maybe it’s time to revisit it. You know I think that Shiro—”

Keith groans. “I know you think that, but he just doesn’t see me that way, Mom.”

“Talk to him,” she urges. “Talk to both of them. I think they’ll surprise you.”

“If I say I’ll think about it can we stop having this conversation right now?” Keith mumbles.

Krolia pinches him. “If I think you mean it, yes.”

“I promise I’ll think about it,” Keith says.

She tugs on his braid and pulls away to smile at him. “Then why don’t you take me down to the kitchens to find dinner and tell me about the Dantu quadrant mission and if I can do anything to help.”

“Sounds good,” Keith answers with a smile of his own.

Kolivan is already in the kitchen when they get there and the three of them are only a few minutes into a conversation about what went wrong with the mission and all the resulting fallout when Shiro walks in with a sheepish look on his face.

“Didn’t think anyone would be down here,” he says, smile breaking over his face. “But it’s always good to see both of you. Surprise visit?”

“Yes. We’re on our own mission and this was on the way,” Kolivan says. “We decided to stop in.”

“Hadn’t been able to see everyone in person for a while,” Krolia puts in.

“If you’re not leaving first thing, I know Adam would love to meet both of you in person,” Shiro says. 

Keith bites back a smile at how polite and proper he always is with Krolia and Kolivan, like he’s trying to impress still. He has to know they like him by now. He wonders if Adam will be the same. He’s talked to both of them on vid call when he first started volunteering with the Blades, but they’ve never met in person.

“I look forward to meeting him,” Krolia says with a smile that has Keith narrowing his eyes at her. He can’t do anything to stop her from meddling, but he can make his displeasure at it known.

“Oh, Pidge was on some of my calls today, Keith,” Shiro says, turning towards Keith and stealing a vegetable off his plate. “She says if you don’t actually call her soon she’ll, and I quote, open the blackmail folder.”

Keith snorts. “I’ll call her tomorrow. She has good stuff in that folder.”

“Does she have blackmail on all of us?”

“She has blackmail on people she’s never met, Shiro. Yes, she has blackmail on all of us.”

“It amazes me that Matt’s the tamer Holt sibling,” Shiro mutters.

“They’re both terrifying, but Pidge wins,” Keith agrees.

The conversation turns back to the mission within a few minutes and the four of them talk until Keith’s eyes start drooping and Krolia and Shiro both start pestering him to get some sleep.

“I’ll find open rooms for them,” Shiro says softly, resting a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Go get some rest.”

Keith’s always been weak to that tone of voice so he just nods and whistles for Kosmo. The wolf appears in a flash, blinking sleepily. Keith wishes everyone goodnight, giving his mom a quick hug, before having Kosmo deliver him back to his bedroom.

He collapses in bed without even taking off his uniform and is asleep within seconds.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Adam waits a week after meeting Krolia in person to put his plan into action. It’s been almost a month since the spar that went sideways and things have finally calmed down enough around base that all three of them should be able to have an evening to themselves without anyone falling asleep over dinner.

He couldn’t even tease Keith about doing literally that the day after Krolia and Kolivan left, because Adam had almost faceplanted into his own plate ten minutes later. The aftermath of the mission in the Dantu quadrant had them all hopping for days.

But now, he’s managed to extract promises from both Takashi and Keith to clear their evening tonight and meet him in the small community kitchen slash dining room he booked for the night. He’d asked around, dealing with the knowing looks and unsolicited bits of advice from assorted Blades, and acquired everything he needed to create the atmosphere he’s after.

He bites his lip and eyes the table settings. The delicate plates are borrowed from a friend in the logistics division who collects decorative place settings in this post-war world. None of them match, but they complement each other well and Adam likes the symbolism. An Olkari wine that Adam swiped from Shiro’s stash without him knowing glows a pale gold in its decanter and a bowl of salad peppered with slices of the Galran radish-like vegetables that Keith loves sit in the middle of the table. The smell of garlic and warming sauce emanates from the oven and Adam nods in satisfaction.

It looks romantic without being overwhelming. Totally worth Thron leaving him a box of condoms alongside the dessert he’d asked for help getting.

He slides the tray of bread into the oven to start warming and straightens just as someone knocks on the door.

Keith is in the doorway, small, shy smile on his face. His braid is draped over his shoulder and he’s out of uniform for once, hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. “Sorry, I’m a bit early.”

“We’ll just say Takashi’s late,” Adam says with a smile of his own. Nerves start swirling in his gut. “Everything’s about ready anyways. Come on in.”

Keith steps in and the door slides closed behind him. Adam watches him take in the set table, trying to decipher his expression. He’s not sure if he’s actually reading hope in his eyes or if it’s just wishful thinking.

“Honestly, I thought you were just getting us in one place to eat whatever the mess was serving. Didn’t know you were cooking,” Keith says. “Smells really good.”

“Thanks. And you know I like to cook on occasion, just haven’t done it much since,” he waves his hand vaguely.

Keith makes a noise of understanding. “I was honestly never sure if you liked to cook or if you were just trying to make sure Shiro didn’t step into your kitchen.”

Adam chuckles. “Bit of both, really.”

“Anything I can do to help, since I’m here early?” Keith asks. “I promise I’m at least semi-capable in the kitchen.”

“Oh, so food in progress doesn’t spontaneously catch on fire if you get near it?” Adam asks with a smirk.

“That’s all Shiro,” Keith says, walking into the kitchen.

“What’s all me?” Takashi asks. 

Adam looks over Keith’s shoulder to see him standing in the open doorway, also out of uniform. Both of them apparently listened to him when he said it was a no-work night.

“Just talking about how you can burn water and other more flammable food items just by being near them,” Adam says.

“Rude,” Shiro sniffs, stepping inside. “Smells delicious in here, though.”

Adam watches as Shiro eyes the table and it’s much easier to see the understanding and confusion on his face than it was on Keith’s. He at least knows that Shiro recognizes how Adam sets up a date meal.

Adam smiles at him, hoping to calm him before he starts to overthink things. “Takashi, if you want to pour the wine, that would be great.”

Shiro takes a deep breath and takes a step towards the table. Keith is watching him, obviously picking up on his tension.

“What are we having?” Shiro asks, picking up the decanter. He sniffs at the wine. “Is this from—”

“Your stash of wine? Yes,” Adam confirms. He flashes a smile and then turns to pull the casserole dish out of the oven, blind side towards the other two. “It’s that Olkari one that tastes vaguely like good merlot but better.”

“Fancy,” Keith drawls. Adam turns his head enough to see his smirk. “And what’s for dinner?”

“Lasagna, of a sort,” Adam says, ducking back down to get the bread. Keith is already holding the plate for the bread out to him when he looks back up. “Thanks.”

“Of a sort?” Shiro asks.

“Well, the closest I could get to my recipe using alien ingredients,” Adam says. He puts the last piece of garlic bread on the plate and Keith takes it from him and heads towards the table. “So I make no promises that it tastes like Earth lasagna.”

Takashi’s face eases into something fond. Lasagna was always one of his favorites of the handful of recipes in Adam’s repertoire. “I’m sure it’ll be great,” he says.

“Smells great,” Keith adds on. “Nothing that smells this good can be bad.”

“Well, the two of you will eat anything so I know it won’t be terrible,” Adam teases. He brings the dish to the table, setting it down on the trivet he’d already laid out. “You two sit and start in on the salad, I’m just going to grab the serving spoon.”

He takes a moment to draw in a deep breath in the kitchen area, swallowing down the nerves before heading back to the table. His heart warms when he sees they made sure to leave him the seat where he’ll be able to easily see both of them.

Keith is doling out salad, already chewing on a piece of radish he took from his own portion. He arches an eyebrow at Adam, motioning for him to hold out his plate. Keith serves him and then Adam picks up his glass. Part of him wants to make a toast, but he doesn’t want to make things awkward so he just takes a sip, enjoying the smooth taste of the wine.

“Thank you both for making time for tonight,” Adam says after they’ve all managed a few bites.

“Of course,” Keith says. His smile is softer than Adam’s ever seen, wistful almost.

“Things have been crazy lately,” Takashi adds. “It’s nice to be able to set everything on do not disturb and spend time with my two favorite people.”

Keith looks guilty and Shiro narrows his eyes at him. “Your comms are still on, aren’t they?”

“Filtered to emergencies only,” he mutters, stabbing a piece of lettuce and digging through to find another radish slice.

“Well, can’t expect the Blade Leader to be completely out of contact,” Adam says. There’s a bit of surprise on Shiro’s face at that and Adam knows that phones being turned off during date night used to be a sticking point between them. Adam always wanted Shiro to dedicate some time to just him, knowing it was limited in so many ways, but Takashi always kept it on in case the Garrison or Keith needed him for something.

They’d had multiple arguments about it, but Adam understands now. He ducks his head, not wanting to face Takashi’s gaze. They’ve had more than one conversation about the end of their relationship, but not many about the little sticking points of _being_ in a relationship they’d stumbled on sometimes. Adam’s sure they’ll figure out ways around them if they all decide to give this a go. They’ve both grown up more and changed so much, after all.

“Vrida practically pushed me out the door earlier,” Keith says with a chuckle. “Pretty sure she’ll only call if something is on fire.”

“Well, hopefully no fires anywhere tonight,” Adam says. “We did successfully get dinner on the table without any.”

“You’re welcome,” Shiro says with a smirk. “I’ll continue to stay out of the kitchen.”

“So you admit it?” Keith teases.

“I admit that the incidence of fire goes up when I’m in the kitchen, but I take none of the blame.”

Keith snorts at that.

The conversation flows smoothly as they eat and make their way through the bottle of wine. They trade stories about their friends among the Blades and the years that they were apart. Shiro and Keith’s eyes keep catching and holding when they talk about their time with Voltron, but Adam gets the same treatment whenever he tells a story, too.

Adam is pleasantly surprised to see Keith flushing lightly whenever he aims a flirt in his direction. It’s nothing more blatant than anything he’s said since their reunion, but Keith finally seems to be picking up on it.

Shiro obviously notices too, since Keith is reacting to him as well.

It’s a good sign, Adam thinks as he sits back in his chair, glass of wine raised to his lips. Keith is telling a story about a time he ended up on a swap moon with Coran, laughing his way through it and gesturing with his glass, plate empty now.

His story winds down and a comfortable silence falls over the table. Takashi is the one to break it.

“So, you going to share with the class why we’re here tonight?” Shiro asks.

“I can’t invite the two of you to have dinner with me just because?” Adam responds, overly innocent.

“You can, but I recognize this set-up,” Takashi says, his calm obviously forced. Adam can read his uncertainty in his eyes and the tight grip of his fingers on his wine glass. Takashi often sounds argumentative when he’s trying to work through emotions on the fly. “Let me guess, there’s dessert in the fridge, too?”

“And if there is?”

“I’m going to ask again why this has all the hallmarks of one of your date dinners?”

Keith’s breath catches and Adam looks over at him. He’s not sure what to make of his expression again. He has so much to learn about Keith’s nuances, still.

Adam takes a deep breath and then dives in headfirst. “That would be because I was hoping that this would be a date. For all three of us.” He pauses, waiting for his words to sink in. “I like both of you. A lot. And I know the two of you are interested in each other even if neither of you have done anything about it.”

Keith freezes at that, but doesn’t seem like he’s going to say anything. Takashi looks too blindsided to speak yet, so Adam forges ahead. All of the words he’d planned out and practiced in his head have disappeared out the window, but Takashi and Keith aren’t ones to be convinced by a pretty speech anyways.

“So, yes, I put together a date so I could ask both of you out. I know it’s not the most conventional kind of relationship but—”

“It is among the Galra,” Keith cuts in, voice a little uneven. “A relationship like this, that is. I just never thought…”

Adam feels entirely composed of nerves right now and tries to summon his confidence from earlier. “Never thought what, Keith?” He reaches over and lays a hand over Keith’s where he’s holding onto the edge of the table. He sees Shiro scoot closer to him, too.

Keith looks up at him, violet eyes swimming with something like longing. “I never thought I had a chance. Guess I never thought either of you would see me like that.”

“Keith…” Shiro breathes out.

“Keith, I’ve been flirting with you pretty much since the second you showed up on Wratix in that suit,” Adam admits, leveling a smile at him. “Pretty sure Takashi’s been trying to flirt with you for way longer than that.”

Shiro slants a glare his way before reaching out to rest his hand on Keith’s knee. “He’s right about that. I’m not very good at it most of the time.”

Keith looks a little stunned. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Adam agrees, squeezing his hand. “It’s okay, I was pretty sure you didn’t entirely notice unless I was flirting with Takashi.”

Keith and Shiro both blush further.

“So,” Shiro says, “you wanted to see how we feel about a relationship?”

Adam nods and pulls his hand back from Keith’s. “I understand if it’s not something you’re interested in, but I knew I’d regret not asking. At the very least, I hope the two of you work something out. It’s obvious to everyone else that you love each other.”

Keith makes a noise in the back of his throat.

“Is it?” Shiro chokes out.

Adam rolls his eye. “Yes.”

“Ah,” Shiro says.

“I want to try it,” Keith says. He looks at both of them in turn, eyes steady though his cheeks are pink. “All three of us. If you do. I’ve, um, I’ve thought about it before. Just never thought there’d be a chance of it happening in reality.”

Adam smiles at him and they both turn to look at Takashi. 

Shiro swallows hard. “I haven’t thought about this before now,” he admits.

“You don’t have to answer now,” Adam says, swallowing down a bit of disappointment. “You can have time to think about it.”

“I…” Takashi’s eyes dart from Adam to Keith and back. “I don’t think I need time. I don’t exactly know how this all will work, you know I’m not the best at relationships, but I want to try too.”

Keith snorts. “I’ve never even been in a relationship, so…”

“We’ll figure it out as we go along,” Adam says. The nerves have fled, leaving his heart feeling warm and full. “Learn from past mistakes and all that.”

“Make new ones, probably,” Keith adds.

“Oh, for sure,” Adam says. “Part of the whole deal.”

Keith leans back in his chair, balancing it on two legs and putting on the delinquent smile Adam remembers from the Garrison and has seen a few times here. “Guess you both have a lot to teach me.”

Takashi snorts and nudges the chair with his foot, trying to knock Keith off balance. Keith adjusts quickly and lets the chair fall back on all fours.

“I know the lead up to an oldtimer joke when I hear one,” Shiro teases.

“You said it, not me.” Keith’s smile has shifted into something warm and joyful now. “Besides, Adam’s the real oldtimer here despite your hair.”

Takashi lights up, like he hadn’t realized. He smirks at Adam. “You gained a few extra years on me with the time slippage. You’re definitely the oldtimer now.”

Adam arches an eyebrow, pressing his lips together to hide his smile. “If you want the dessert in the fridge, you’ll take that back.”

Keith laughs as Takashi starts in on an elaborate and insincere apology. Adam has no hope of suppressing his smile as he gets to his feet. He squeezes Keith’s shoulder as he goes past him to get dessert from the fridge.

His boys, his _partners_ , are still laughing at the table behind him and he’s not sure he’s ever felt happier. When he turns around, he sees Takashi gently take Keith’s hand in his and offer a soft smile full of all the emotion he usually tries to hide.

The smile is turned on him when he sets a dish of chocolate mousse, obtained with difficulty given the lack of chocolate out here, in front of Shiro. Keith gets a similar dish but flavored with a fruit the Blades tend to favor since chocolate isn’t his favorite.

This moment, all the potential for happiness that is spreading out in front of them, is worth all the nerves and set-up, Adam thinks as they dig in. Worth all the things that brought the three of them here to this moment.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

The moment Shiro is alone in his room, he leans back against the door, hand over his mouth as he tries to process everything that happened tonight. He’d gone to dinner, ready to continue pretending that he wasn’t caught up in the messy tangle of his feelings for both Keith and Adam and now has come back somehow in a relationship with both of them.

He’s not sure how this particular solution never occurred to him. It would’ve saved him a lot of stress over the past few months. He doesn’t bother holding back his smile as he turns it over in his head. He’s dating Keith _and_ Adam. He hasn’t been alone in feeling like this.

Shiro’s grin is giddy as he crouches down to take off his shoes. He leaves his boots by the door and walks into his quarters to start getting ready for bed. He still has an early wakeup call tomorrow, personal life shakeup notwithstanding.

It seems like a dream, almost. 

His feelings for Adam snuck up on him, familiar warm tendrils of affection and a snap-spark in his gut whenever he aimed his flirting in Shiro’s direction. The feeling solidified through evenings they’ve spent talking about the years they spent apart and reminiscing and working through their past. Shiro feels like he’s getting the chance to fall in love with Adam all over again, with the man he’s become now. The benefit of knowing their past mistakes and where they went wrong is a benefit Shiro is going to lean on heavily as they move forward, he thinks, though things are different and will be different. _They’re_ different and this relationship is a whole new ballgame in every way.

And Keith. God, Keith. Shiro’s spent the last five years or so trying to hide the fact that he’s in love with his best friend. Everyone from Matt to Allura to Thron has called him out on his pining. Even Adam had with less than ten minutes of seeing them together upon their reunion. It’s almost surreal to think that he can _act_ on it now, that he can linger in all of those intimate moments instead of worrying if he’s making Keith uncomfortable. Shiro is full to the brim with love for Keith and can’t wait to let it start spilling out in all the ways he’s dreamed of.

He flops down on his couch, staring up at the ceiling still smiling as he settles into his new reality. He’s not sure he’s ever been happier or so excited for what the future holds.

Shiro is just contemplating moving to bed when there’s a soft knock at the door. It’s late enough that it really could only be Adam or Keith and they’re both keyed into the lockpad. “Come in,” he calls, running a hand through his hair. It’s probably a disaster, but whoever is here has likely seen it worse.

The door slides open and Keith stands there in the threshold for a long second, an uncertain look on his face. Shiro’s heart drops, he hasn’t seen Keith look this unsteady with him in _years_. Coming on the heels of their relationship starting, he’s already dreading the worst. What if Keith has already changed his mind? Realized that he doesn’t feel that way about Shiro after all? It’s just how the universe works for him — give him his dream for a single shining moment only to snatch it away again before he can enjoy it.

“Hey, sorry to stop by so late,” Keith says, finally stepping inside so the door can close. His hands are fidgety and he looks about as ready to run as he is to talk.

“It’s always fine, Keith,” Shiro says, voice much calmer than he’s feeling. He pats the spot on the couch next to him. “Sit with me?”

Keith nods and crosses the small space to sit on the sofa next to Shiro. The silence stretches out.

Shiro knocks his shoulder gently. “Hey, what’s on your mind? You’re tense.”

“I was thinking…” Keith starts before biting his lip, stemming the flow of words.

Shiro reaches over and takes one of Keith’s hands, threading their fingers together. “You can tell me anything. Talk to me, baby.” Keith’s cheeks flush a bit at the endearment. It slips off his tongue too easily now that he has free rein to say it.

“I was thinking about something Adam said earlier,” Keith says. Shiro braces himself for the worst, expecting it now more than ever. “He said that everyone but us knew that we…”

 _Love each other_ , Shiro finishes silently. He swallows hard. “Yeah. What about that?”

Keith hesitates. He looks down at their joined hands and then up to meet Shiro’s eyes. “Is he right? Do you…” He trails off again, eyes straying back to their hands.

“Keith, yes. Of course,” Shiro replies, craning to try and catch Keith’s gaze. “How could I not?”

He glances back up, violet eyes wide and vulnerable and braver than anything. “How long, Shiro?”

“Since before I died,” Shiro whispers. He squeezes Keith’s hand when he makes a pained noise at that. “I don’t think I really realized what I was feeling until I was in Black for so long, but that’s when it started for me.”

Keith closes his eyes and breathes through whatever emotions are running through him. “Oh.”

“Why?”

“I never knew. I hoped, sometimes, but I never knew at all.”

“I didn’t know either,” Shiro answers, defending himself on instinct, “about how you felt. Feel.”

“I told you, once,” Keith says quietly. “You never brought it up. I assumed you didn’t want to talk about it. Assumed you were just letting me down easy because you didn’t feel the same. I got back to my room tonight and started worrying that you only said yes earlier because you just wanted to get back with Adam and the only option he gave to do that involved me.”

A sound escapes Shiro’s throat that he didn’t even know he could make as he tightens his grip on Keith’s hand. “No,” he breathes out, horrified. “Keith. I would never do that to you. I said yes because I want to be with _both_ of you.”

“Then why did you never bring it up when we talked about the fight? Or any other time? You never said _anything_ , Shiro.”

Shiro ducks his head, cheeks heating. “You said brother, then,” he says. “I thought that’s what you wanted me to be, so I tried to just love you like that. Be what you needed from me even if my feelings weren’t very brotherly.”

Keith’s eyes flash, starting to tinge yellow. “I was _terrified_ , Shiro. I wasn’t exactly thinking through my wording. I figured you saw me as a brother figure so I tried that first. The rest of it was just the only thing left in my head when I thought I was going to die. The truth.”

The only thing Keith could think about when Shiro was trying to _kill him_ was that he loved him. Shiro is never going to deserve this beautiful man in front of him, he thinks, but he’ll gladly spend forever trying to.

For now, he does the only thing currently in _his_ mind which is to lean forward and press his lips to Keith’s.

Keith is still for a moment before returning the gentle pressure, kissing Shiro like he’s precious. Shiro loves him so much and he’s going to be able to tell him that someday soon. He pulls back to look at Keith, hands framing his face. His prosthetic dwarfs Keith, but he nuzzles into it anyways.

“I’m sorry I made you doubt it for so long,” Shiro whispers into the scant space separating their lips. “Never again.”

“Good. I’ll hold you to that,” Keith says, smile bright. “But right now I really want you to kiss me again because that was my first and I want more.”

Something swoops low in Shiro’s stomach at the knowledge that it was Keith’s first kiss. He probably should’ve asked first, but he can’t bring himself to regret even a nanosecond of it. “I’m glad you let it be me,” he whispers. “And I guess I don’t have to ask if it was good since you’re already demanding more.”

“You’re such an ass, sometimes,” Keith mutters. The sentiment is softened entirely by the way he surges into Shiro and takes the kiss he’d been asking for.

Shiro gladly lets him.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

A week after the dinner that kicked off their relationship finds the three of them sprawled out on Keith’s couch watching some Galran drama that Adam and Shiro are both hooked on. It’s better than the soap operas on Earth, Adam thinks. He casts a sideways glance at Keith and has to bite back a smile when he sees him just as engrossed in the show as they are despite his protests.

Takashi nudges his head against Adam’s hand, a silent protest to how he’d stopped playing with his hair.

“Needy,” he teases, scratching blunt nails across his scalp. Takashi just hums happily.

Keith snorts. “And you call me a cat,” he says.

“You are,” Shiro says, not taking his eyes off the TV.

“Come over here and I can pet you too,” Adam offers. He’s been dying to get his hands in Keith’s hair and this seems like a prime opportunity to mess up his braid a little. 

Also, it means that he would get Keith to cuddle with them instead of curling up in the corner of the sofa, just out of contact. He keeps holding himself back just a little, like he’s unsure of how he fits in, if he’ll be encroaching or overstepping by reaching out and Adam wants to erase that doubt. He knows this is Keith’s first relationship and the uncertainty shows in moments like this.

“Yeah, okay,” Keith says after considering. He scoots closer, hesitating for a fraction of a second before curling into Adam’s side, resting his head against his shoulder and letting his hand fall to where Shiro’s head is pillowed on his thigh.

“Mmm, double head scratches,” Shiro says on a sigh. “Getting spoiled.”

Adam swats him lightly. “Behave.”

He shifts to get his arm around Keith, tugging him in closer to really tuck in against him. He waits for Keith to settle before working his fingers into his braid at the base of his skull. Keith hums at the contact, nuzzling into Adam’s shoulder.

“Good?” Adam asks.

Keith nods and Adam goes back to gently massaging his scalp. It’s no hardship to him to indulge both of his boys in this. Keith’s hair is thick and soft and Adam is more than happy to keep his hand buried in it. One day, he thinks, he’s going to get to see his hair loose around his shoulders and he’s not entirely sure he’ll survive the experience.

He turns his attention back to the show as it comes back from the ad break, completely content to watch the drama unfold while he cuddles his partners. As the show comes to an end, Adam realizes that there’s a soft noise coming from Keith.

Adam shifts to look down at him, taking in the strands of hair that have now escaped Keith’s braid to hang around his face and the way he’s radiating relaxation right now. “Keith, are you purring?” he asks, delighted.

The noise stops as Keith opens his eyes, violet gaze dark. “Maybe?”

Adam drags his nails over Keith’s scalp experimentally and the rumble starts up again.

“Definitely purring,” Takashi says, head still in Adam’s lap.

Keith hides his face in Adam’s chest. “Feels good,” he mumbles.

“The purring or me playing with your hair?” Adam asks.

There’s a moment of hesitation before Keith says, “Both.” Then, “Sorry if it’s weird.”

“Hey,” Adam says, tugging on his braid to make Keith look back up at him, “it’s cute. I like that I can make you feel good.”

Keith’s cheeks go pink at that. “Well, that’s good, since I don’t seem to be able to control the purring.”

“We’ll have to see what else can make you purr,” Shiro puts in. He uses the extra maneuverability of his floating arm to take one of Keith’s hands. He presses a lingering kiss to Keith’s knuckles. “Looking forward to making you feel good, baby.”

“Look who thinks he’s smooth all of a sudden,” Keith shoots back. His whole face is red now. “And you’re not the only one looking forward to that, darling.”

Shiro’s jaw drops a little and Adam huffs out a laugh. “I think you broke him,” he whispers to Keith.

Keith looks up at him with a sly little smile and Adam barely hesitates before leaning down to kiss it off his lips. He pulls away after a second and Keith just chases after him for another kiss. Adam swipes his tongue over Keith’s bottom lip and his heart thrills when Keith opens for him so sweetly. He tightens his grip in Keith’s hair and kisses him slow and thorough.

They’re both out of breath when they pull back. Keith digs his teeth into his own bottom lip and Adam has to look away so he doesn’t haul him back in for another kiss. He looks down at Takashi instead. “You back with us?”

“Oh, I was just enjoying the view,” he says with a smirk. “Don’t stop on my account.”

“Don’t want in?” Keith asks.

Takashi’s eyes darken. “Never said that.”

Keith grins. “Too bad.” He leans back in to kiss Adam again before Shiro can do more than sputter.

They’re all well kissed by the time they retire to their separate quarters.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Shiro faceplants on Adam’s couch as soon as he enters his quarters.

“Hello to you too,” Adam says around a laugh. “Long day?”

“The longest. Got pulled into training sessions to showcase some Earth fighting styles and demonstrate how to fight someone with a limb like this” He lifts his right hand and then lets it fall back towards the floor.”

“Are there a lot of instances where they’d have to fight people with magically floating arms?” Adam asks. Shiro can hear him moving around the tiny kitchenette, likely putting his kettle on the one-burner stovetop that reminds Shiro of the illegal hotplate Adam had in the Garrison dorms for this exact purpose.

“No, but it’s the Blades. Knowledge or death,” Shiro intones. He turns his head to the side to watch Adam prepare their tea. “I think they were waiting for Keith to be off base to get me in there.”

Adam raises an eyebrow. “Would he disapprove?”

“Not in theory,” Shiro says. “And I don’t mind helping. They just tend to forget that humans don’t have the same stamina in hand to hand battle that Galra do from a purely physiological standpoint. Keith minds them wearing me out so much.”

Or, rather, he minds when the Blades try to use Shiro as a training tool for potential battles. He’s always cautious of the memories it might drag up for Shiro.

Adam hums. “So they waited until he was on a mission without you to ask?”

“Yeah. It’s not the first time, but I’m usually on the same missions as him.”

The quiet clinking of a spoon against the tea mugs fills the room and then Adam is heading towards him with tea in hand. “Sit up so you don’t spill,” he says quietly.

Shiro does, tucking himself into the corner of the couch and taking the offered mug from Adam. As soon as Adam sits down, Shiro stretches out his socked feet, depositing them in Adam’s lap. He smiles into his mug at Adam’s eyeroll.

Shiro inhales the steam, closing his eyes as something grassy and citrusy greets him. Adam always breaks out whatever he has that is the most similar to green tea for Shiro and this one smells heavenly. He can feel the tension in his shoulders start to release.

“Have you heard from him today?” Adam asks once Shiro’s taken a few sips.

Shiro shakes his head. “Probably won’t until tomorrow. Radio silence until the rendezvous with Krolia and Kolivan is complete. He’s planning on stopping in to see Hunk on Frolv since it’s on the way back, though. Should hear from him once he’s there.”

“Have you two told the Paladins and company about us?” 

Shiro’s surprised he hasn’t asked before now. It’s been almost three weeks since they started their relationship.

He nods. “Yeah. I was on a call with Lance and Allura the day after the dinner and told them then. Think Keith told Hunk and Pidge. And Romelle. Matt called me to scream before I had the chance to tell him.” He smiles at Adam over the rim of his mug. “Surprised he hasn’t called you to give you the same treatment.”

“I know better than to give Holt my personal comm,” Adam says primly.

Shiro digs his heel into Adam’s thigh. “Like he won’t get it anyways once he remembers he wants to.”

They settle into a comfortable quiet as they drink their tea. It’s all too easy for Shiro’s mind to start wandering. He knows the mission Keith’s on had to be a solo run and that it’s not dangerous so much as secretive, but he still worries.

Shiro tips the mug up to get the last few drops and then uses his floating hand to deposit it in the sink.

“Take mine too?” Adam asks after finishing his off.

Shiro does and no sooner has the mug clanked against the sink than Adam wiggles out from under his feet and starts crawling up him.

“Hello,” Shiro says when Adam is hovering over him, grinning. “Can I help you with something?”

Adam drops all of his weight on him, forcing a huff out. “You’re stressing yourself out. Thought I’d offer a distraction.”

Shiro tangles his fingers in Adam’s hair. “Oh?”

Adam leans down and kisses Shiro in lieu of answering.

Shiro lets himself melt into it, relishing the weight of Adam draped over him and the heat his kiss sends spiraling through him. It’s easy to get lost in it and let the rest of the day fade into the background.

One of his hands has migrated down to get a handful of Adam’s ass and Shiro can feel him hard against his hip when Adam’s comm starts buzzing insistently on the table.

“Better get that, babe,” Shiro says, voice husky. He gets to see Adam’s eyes darken further before he clambers off of him with a groan.

Adam takes one look at his comm and growls before picking it up. “Holt, I’m going to kill you whenever I see you next.”

Shiro bursts into laughter, the weight of the day almost fully lifted now as he listens to the familiar sound of Adam and Matt sniping at each other.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Keith returns from his mission a couple days later with a grin and a bag full of food from Hunk. They snag one of the small dining rooms for themselves again and set up a date night where all they have to do is follow Hunk’s heating instructions to have a gourmet meal.

Keith waits to pull out the two bars of dark chocolate wrapped in foil until Adam and Shiro are both complaining about being too full to eat another bite, just to see how fast they backtrack. He doesn’t expect to be showered in kisses for bringing them their favorite dessert, but he’s certainly not complaining.

He laughs when Shiro pulls him down on his lap and then melts under the slow, deep kiss that tastes of chocolate and wine that Shiro gives him. He still can’t believe this is his life now, but he loves it. Loves both of these men with an intensity that should probably scare him but just feels right in every way.

He kisses Shiro back with every iota of that love behind it.

Adam watches with a smile and as soon as Takashi pulls back for a breath, he tugs on Keith’s braid. “Me too?”

“Mmm, wanting a kiss from me or Shiro, big guy?”

“Both, always,” Adam replies easily. “But you first.”

Keith slides off Shiro’s lap and kisses the pout off his face before sauntering over to Adam. Adam is about ready to combust when Keith straddles his lap and pulls him into a searing kiss.

It’s taken three weeks of dates and movie nights, and months and years of being friends before that, to get them all into this rhythm, for Keith to find his footing in the relationship and every second of it was worth it to see Keith’s confidence on display here in this context.

It’s also devastating in the best way, he thinks as Keith kisses him breathless..

“Miss us while you were gone?” Adam asks once he can manage words again.

Keith settles into his own chair and takes a sip of wine. “Maybe.”

“Brat,” Shiro teases.

“Like you didn’t know that already,” Keith shoots back.

“You’re one too, Takashi, lest you forget.” He watches Shiro turn pink and picks up his wine glass.

Keith’s laughter is sweet as the chocolate lingering on his tongue and Adam hopes this evening stretches on for as long as possible.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Two days later, Takashi and Keith track him down in the mess hall in the middle of the afternoon looking far too excited about something. Adam glances between the two of them, amused at their matching grins. “Okay, so why are the two of you so wound up?”

“The new Marmora Vipers are ready for a test flight,” Takashi says. “We’re taking them out for a race.”

“Well, that explains why you both look about ready to vibrate out of your skin,” Adam quips, crossing his arms over his chest. “Adrenaline junkies.”

“Want to come with?” Keith asks, grin only widening. “Been awhile since you’ve flown. It’ll be fun.”

A thrill runs through Adam at the thought of flying with Keith and Shiro. He’s never seen two people born for the sky and for space as much as they are. The _need_ for flight doesn’t run through Adam’s veins like it does for Takashi and Keith, but he still loves it. And he definitely loves seeing them excel at things.

“I think I do,” he says. “Lead the way.”

Takashi takes his hand and pulls him out the door and towards the hangar, practically bouncing with excitement.

“You’re acting like you haven’t flown in months,” Adam says around a laugh.

“Been waiting for these ships,” Takashi admits. “They’ve improved maneuverability and speed and…”

“It should be the closest thing to flying a lion that they’ve managed to engineer so far,” Keith finishes, voice laced with excitement.

Keith palms them into the hangar and makes a beeline to a pair of sleek, gleaming black ships. Purple lights accent the stark black and Adam has to admit that they are beautiful ships. He whistles lowly in appreciation.

Takashi squeezes his hand. “So, who are you going to ride with?” His smirk is all confidence, like he is positive that Adam is going to pick him.

“Think I’ll tag along with Keith,” he says with a smirk of his own. He brings Takashi’s hand up to his lips to brush a kiss against his knuckles before letting go, softening the blow.

Keith grins in response, making a face at Shiro.

“Adam,” Shiro whines.

“Sorry honey,” Adam says, “but you know I like to win.”

Shiro gapes at him for a second before his face settles into a determined expression that Adam knows well. “Picked the wrong ship then,” he shoots back.

Keith laughs. “We’ll see about that.”

“He _did_ break almost all your records at the Garrison,” Adam points out.

“New ships, even playing field,” Shiro points out.

“Still going to ride with Keith.” Adam aims his best smile at Takashi, raising an eyebrow. “But I promise if you win, I’ll let you take me for a ride.” He delights in watching Takashi’s ears turn red. “Just a bit of incentive,” he purrs.

Keith's laughter chases Shiro into his ship. Adam follows Keith into his. It’s a compact thing inside, most of the space dedicated to the cargo hold with minimal living space. It’s obviously designed for short, fast trips; for the possibility of trouble. Keith settles into the pilot’s seat like it was designed just for him.

He watches him power up the ship and start pre-flight checks, the routine obviously second nature, even in a new-to-him ship. He looks over his shoulder to check that Adam’s strapped in to the passenger seat and his grin is a lightning strike.

“Ready?”

“Absolutely,” Adam breathes.

Keith turns on the comms. “Race through the asteroid belt?” He asks as soon as he’s connected to Shiro. “Good distance there and back to test open space handling and then the belt itself for maneuvering.”

“You’re on,” Takashi replies, voice crystal clear over the connection. “We’ll start when we’re both out of the hangar and ready.”

“Still sore about losing last time?” Keith taunts. He sends through the request for departure and Adam feels the ships engines pick up as he readies for take off. It thrums through him. It’s definitely been too long since he got to fly for fun.

“You took off before I even cleared the doors,” Shiro complains. “That’s cheating!”

“Just taking every advantage I could get, Captain,” Keith says.

“You cheat at board games when you’re losing,” Adam adds. “No room for you to complain.”

Takashi scoffs but doesn’t try to argue. Keith laughs and settles his hands on the controls. The ship is smooth as anything as he takes off out of the hangar. He pulls the ship to a standstill a short distance from the base and waits for Shiro to bring his ship out and in line with his.

“You ready to get your ass kicked?” Keith taunts.

“Should be asking yourself that,” Takashi retorts. “Same route as usual?”

“Yup.” Keith pops his p and tightens his grip on the controls, ready to accelerate at a moments notice. “On your count, Shiro.”

“Generous of you,” Shiro says.

“You need all the help you can get.”

Adam snorts. They are hands down the two most competitive people he’s ever met and he loves it.

Takashi’s voice counts down over the open comms. “Go in three, two one.”

Keith takes them from a standstill to breakneck in less than a second with a wild grin on his face. Adam leans forward, adrenaline coursing through him. Takashi is still neck and neck with them and Adam knows this is going to be a race decided in the asteroid belt.

“Smooth handling,” Shiro says after a few seconds. “ _Fast_.”

“Sure is,” Keith replies. He does something to the controls and the ship’s hum shifts up a pitch as he inches ahead, having found a little more speed. Keith is a vision to behold in the pilot seat; he lives in that sweet spot between tense and loose that keeps him ready for anything and the joy just radiates off him.

The asteroid belt is in sight and Keith doesn’t slow a bit as he heads straight into the teeth of it. Shiro is right on his tail.

Adam is breathless as they weave their separate paths through the rocks. It’s an incredible display of skill and they both make it look effortless, not sacrificing a single bit of speed as they make their way through the obstacle course. It makes him more than a little hot under the collar, honestly.

Keith lets out a triumphant whoop as he exits the asteroid belt half a tick before Shiro. Takashi’s groan is audible over the comms. Keith turns his supernova of a grin on Adam and Adam doesn’t hesitate before unstrapping himself from the safety restraints and stumbling across the space separating them.

He straddles Keith’s lap right there in the pilot seat and kisses him deep and filthy, putting all of his appreciation for that display of prowess and all the adrenaline into it. Keith moans into the kiss, gripping Adam’s hips and pulling him down for a slow grind. There’s too many layers between them with Adam’s makeshift uniform and Keith’s tight but thick Blades suit, but it’s _good_.

Keith breaks the kiss to gasp in a breath and Adam moves to mouth along his jawline, worrying at a spot just on the underside with his teeth. There’s an insistent beeping sound that’s just making it through the haze of his arousal and he feels Keith shift to press a button.

Takashi’s voice fills the cabin. “I thought that might be why you were both ignoring me.”

Adam nips at the pink spot he’s made and looks over his shoulder to see that Keith’s brought up a video link with Takashi. He’s pouting.

“Winner’s perks,” Adam says. “And you know I love watching you two be good at things.”

Keith’s fingers flex on Adam’s hips at his words. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by him that Keith melts under praise. Takashi does too, and Adam enjoys telling both of them how well they’re doing at something just to watch them blush.

“If I was good too you should come over here and tell me,” Takashi wheedles. “Or come console me after losing.”

Keith wraps his arms fully around Adam’s waist and shoots a look at the camera. “No.”

“Keeeith,” Shiro whines. Adam laughs into Keith’s neck before taking the opportunity to drop some kisses along its length through the flight suit.

“Big baby,” Keith mutters, fondness seeping into his tone. 

Adam nips at the exposed skin just under Keith’s ear, a spot he’s already learned is sensitive and rocks his hips forward. Keith pulls in a loud breath in response.

“You, god, yeah, right there,” Keith stutters out. “Fuck. You want to ride with Shiro on the way back?”

Adam presses his smile into Keith’s shoulder. “Trying to get rid of me?”

“No, but I figured I’d try and play fair.” Keith scrapes his teeth, slightly too sharp to be human, against Adam’s neck.

“How would I even get over there?”

Keith whistles a quick three note tune and Kosmo flashes into the cockpit, taking up most of the space.

“Oh, right. I forget he can just show up wherever sometimes,” Adam says with a laugh. “Guess I might as well, since he’s here.”

“Such enthusiasm,” Takashi drawls over the comms. “I feel so wanted.”

Adam shoots him a look. “Play your cards right and you will.”

He turns back to give Keith another lingering kiss. “We’ll talk about more winner’s perks when we get back,” he says with a wink as he slides off Keith’s lap.

Kosmo noses under Adam’s chin with a whine and Adam buries his hands in his thick fur. “Take me over to Shiro,” he says. Kosmo flashes them to Shiro’s ship and then disappears as soon as he gets some ear scritches from Takashi.

Adam leans down and kisses Shiro slow and deep before stepping back to strap into the passenger seat. “Impress me on the way back and we’ll see about more,” he promises with a smile.

Shiro’s look of determination is a beautiful thing.

He wins the race back to base and Adam rewards him with a few minutes of making out in his pilot’s seat to be fair.

When they all finally climb out of their ships, Adam is ready to drag them both off to a bedroom to continue what they’ve started. He doesn’t think it’ll take much convincing.

They linger in mostly empty hangar, trading kisses and touches as the adrenaline races through them still.

“Want to take this somewhere else?” Adam asks, surfacing from a kiss with Keith. “Somewhere private?”

Keith’s eyes darken and Adam feels hope swell. They’ve all been taking it somewhat slow since everything is a first for Keith, but none of them are particularly good at slow and Adam wants to take them both to bed more than he wants his next breath at this point.

“Keith?” Takashi says, voice low and rough. He’s pressed up against Adam’s back and Adam feels his words rumble through him. “It’s your call. If you’re not ready yet…”

“Shut up,” Keith growls, leaning up to reinforce his point with a bruising kiss. “I’m ready,” he says when he pulls back, glancing between Adam and Shiro. “I want to.”

The silence following Keith’s statement crackles with tension, with anticipation of what’s about to happen. The shrill buzz of Keith’s comm breaks the silence before anyone can act.

Keith groans and looks at it. “I have to go. Tonight?”

“Yes,” Adam and Takashi say in unison.

“Takashi has the biggest bed,” Adam says. “Meet there in a few vargas?”

“I’ll be there,” Keith promises. He quickly kisses both of them again before picking up his comm and starting to talk in Galran as he walks off, the picture of professionalism despite his kiss-swollen lips and mussed braid.

He and Takashi both watch him until he’s out of sight. It’s going to be a long few vargas, Adam thinks with a sigh.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

Keith is buzzing with a heady mix of nerves and excitement as he walks down the corridor towards Shiro’s room. He knows they’re waiting on him so he gives a quick knock before letting himself in. Adam and Shiro are on the couch lazily making out.

Keith kicks off his shoes by the door and sets the lock. “Get started without me?” he asks when they finally look his way.

“Just passing the time,” Adam says. He runs his eyes over Keith, taking in the t-shirt and sweats he’d changed into before coming over. “Come join us.”

Keith slides in between Shiro and Adam on the couch. 

Shiro immediately wraps his arms around Keith’s waist and pulls him back against his chest. “Hi baby,” he says into the crook of Keith’s shoulder. He noses the collar of his shirt aside so he can lay a kiss against bare skin. “Glad you’re here.”

Keith wiggles back against where Shiro’s half-hard in his sweats already. “I see that,” he says.

Shiro nips at his skin in response before sliding his left hand under Keith’s shirt to rest against his stomach.

Adam leans in to kiss Keith. It’s slow and thorough, Adam’s tongue working magic against Keith’s own until Keith is melting back against Shiro. He can barely keep up with the onslaught of sensation. Shiro’s fingers card through the line of hair leading into Keith’s waistband at the same time Adam pulls back to nip at Keith’s bottom lip, and Shiro hasn’t stopped lavishing attention on Keith’s neck.

Keith works a hand underneath Adam’s shirt, needing to feel warm skin under his fingertips instead of fabric. Adam leans over Keith and finds Shiro for another kiss. Keith feels like he’s on fire, being sandwiched between them like this. It’s not the first time they’ve made out like this, but it’s the first time he knows it’s with the intent to take it further and he’s impatient with it.

“Bed,” Keith rasps out when Shiro and Adam part with a wet noise. “Now.”

Adam chuckles. “Someone’s demanding.”

“In a hurry, baby?” Shiro asks.

“Yes,” Keith says simply. “We’re all wearing too many clothes.”

Adam sits up and tugs lightly at Keith’s sweats. “Shame you changed clothes. I was looking forward to finally peeling that Blades suit off of you.”

Shiro groans into Keith’s shoulder. “Me too,” he admits. “It’s been driving me crazy for years.”

Well, that's good information to have, Keith thinks. He feels the same way about Shiro in the Blades suit but he’ll keep that to himself for now. “Next time,” he promises. “Now, bed. This couch is too small.”

They relocate to the bedroom slowly, stumbling there and stopping to kiss and cop a feel or two along the way. Keith loses his shirt halfway through the journey and manages to get Shiro’s off too before he’s tumbled onto the bed with a laugh. Shiro grins down at him, looking remarkably pleased with himself.

“Hi,” Shiro says. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Keith loves him, he does, but Shiro is patently ridiculous sometimes. He pulls him down into a kiss instead of rolling his eyes at him. He feels the bed dip as Adam crawls onto it. Keith breaks the kiss to see where Adam ended up and sees him settling with his back against the headboard.

Shiro makes a sound of protest when Keith turns over to move further up the bed so all three of them can get on it. He still grabs a handful of Keith’s ass as he moves, so Keith figures he’s not really complaining that much.

Keith straddles Adam’s lap, grinning as Adam immediately starts running his hands over Keith’s chest, obviously appreciative. Keith is eager to return the attention and starts rucking up Adam’s shirt, wanting it off. Adam freezes for a second before forcibly relaxing. 

Keith stops what he’s doing, pulling his hands back out from under his shirt. “Hey. Is this okay, sweetheart?” It’s the first time the endearment that’s been rattling around his head when he looks at Adam slips off his tongue and Adam’s whole face softens at it.

“I just…” Adam gestures at the left side of his face and the burn scars there. “The scarring goes down a ways.”

“Look at us,” Keith says, keeping his hands still and over Adam’s shirt even though he wants to run gentle hands over Adam and try and erase his insecurities. He gestures at the ropy scar that cuts over his shoulder from his Trials and the other various scars he’s picked up over the years and battles. Shiro’s torso is more marked than Keith’s, carrying the scars from his time in the arena as well as Voltron. “The scars just mean you survived to make it here to this moment with us.”

“You can keep your shirt on if it makes you more comfortable,” Shiro says, crawling up closer. “We won’t push, but just know that we want to see you. All of you.”

Adam pulls in a breath and lets it out slowly. He meets Keith’s gaze. “Take it off of me.”

Keith doesn’t hesitate. He rucks the shirt back up Adam’s torso and this time doesn’t stop until it’s fully off and thrown to a corner of Shiro’s room. He trails his hands back down, moving over scarred and unscarred skin alike.

“Beautiful,” he says. He leans forward and presses a kiss right over Adam’s heart.

Shiro’s hands join him in exploring the planes of Adam’s chest. The prosthetic flicks over a nipple, pulling a moan out of Adam. Keith dips his head to replicate the motion with his tongue and Adam’s hand fists in his hair. He pulls Keith back and his eye is fully dilated now, breath quick. Keith peeks downwards and finds Adam starting to tent his pants.

“We’re supposed to be taking care of you,” Adam says, “not the other way around.”

“I want to make both of you feel good,” Keith counters.

“You will,” Shiro says. “But it’s your first time. Let us make it special.”

Keith’s smile goes soft. “It already is.”

“Sap,” Shiro teases. He pulls Keith over towards him. Keith goes easily.

“Nope, that’s still you,” Keith says against his lips.

Shiro silences him with a kiss instead of arguing and before long, Keith is sandwiched between him and Adam again, lost in the sensations that they are creating between them. Keith rolls his hips against Shiro’s, fully hard and aching with it. The friction feels glorious and he moans into Shiro’s shoulder.

“Think it’s time to get these off,” Adam says, slipping a finger under the waistband of Keith’s sweats and tugging.

“Please,” Keith says, fully in agreement.

He works with Adam to pull off his sweats, relishing the twin inhales of Shiro and Adam as they realize that he didn’t have underwear on beneath them.

Adam tosses the sweatpants off the bed somewhere and then reaches out to squeeze Keith’s ass, kneading at the bare skin. Keith pushes back into the touch with a gasp. He looks up at Shiro. “Come on, I don’t want to be the only one naked here.”

Shiro sheds his pants and boxers with alacrity, drawing a laugh from Keith as his movements bounce him on the mattress. His mouth waters as he finally gets a good look at Shiro’s dick.

“Fuck,” he whispers. He’d known Shiro was big; he'd caught glimpses in the communal showers and Shiro has a tendency to wear pants on the tight side. He’s also felt it when they’ve made out, but _seeing_ him hard is a whole new ballgame.

“Like what you see, baby?” Shiro teases. He leans back against the pillows at the head of the bed and lazily wraps his fist, the prosthetic one, the one that should make everything look small and yet _doesn’t_ , around his cock, giving it a couple lazy pulls.

Adam snorts from behind Keith, pulling him out of the fantasies of crawling up Shiro’s body to get his hand on his cock instead, to get his mouth on it. “I think he does,” Adam says. “Me too.”

The dark want threading through Adam’s voice sends a shiver down Keith’s spine.

Keith moves up the bed, drawn in by Shiro. He runs a hand up Shiro’s thigh, feeling the springy hair and occasional scar beneath his fingertips. He pauses at his hip and meets Shiro’s eyes, seeing that they’re blown wide. Shiro bites his bottom lip and Keith moves his hand inwards until he can move Shiro’s metal hand out of the way and finally get his hand on Shiro’s dick.

It’s almost surreal.

“Keith,” Shiro lets out on a moan as Keith moves his hand experimentally. “Baby.”

Adam slots up behind Keith and Keith can feel his hardness pressed up against his ass. He’d apparently lost his pants while Keith was preoccupied. He reaches over and puts his hand over Keith’s. “Grip tighter,” he says into Keith’s ear, jerking off Shiro with him.

Shiro’s breath hitches.

“If you were actually trying to get him off right now, we’d go faster, but we’re just getting warmed up,” Adam says. He nips at the sensitive spot behind Keith’s ear. “And don’t forget that we want to take care of you.”

He lets go of Keith and Shiro and flops down on his back, stealing a pillow to prop his head up. Shiro gives Adam a look and Keith reluctantly lets go of Shiro after one last slow stroke.

“What do you have in mind?” Keith asks. Shiro drags his hand down Keith’s side, unwilling to completely lose contact.

Adam grins and pats his chest. “Up here. I’ve got more winner’s perks for you from earlier.”

Keith feels like his whole body is blushing as Adam situates him over his face, facing down towards the foot of the bed.

“Takashi,” Adam orders, breath warm against Keith’s skin, “come over here and help Keith stay in place.”

“Yes sir,” Shiro breathes. He straddles Adam’s chest facing Keith. He runs his hands from Keith’s shoulders down to his forearms where he lingers. “You’re in for a treat,” he says. “Adam’s amazing with his tongue.”

Keith is about to say something about already knowing that when Adam pulls his cheeks apart and licks straight over his hole. Keith makes a strangled sound and pitches forward towards Shiro.

“Oh fuck,” he says, voice shaky as Adam gives another broad, flat stroke over him.

“Good?” Shiro asks.

“Yeah,” Keith hurries to agree.

Adam seems to take that as his signal to really dive in, increasing the pressure before circling the tip of his tongue around his rim. He moves his hands to grip Keith’s hips, pulling him down against his face.

It’s too much and a tease all at once and Keith is shaking. He doesn’t know what noises are coming out of his mouth but they’re a lot. Shiro’s running his hands over him as he helps keep him upright for Adam. 

Adam works his tongue inside, moaning against Keith as he works. Keith rocks his hips back against Adam’s tongue just as Shiro gets a hand around Keith’s dick. God, Keith’s no slouch in the size department but Shiro’s hand is _huge_. It’s amazing and he lets out a whine.

“That’s it, baby,” Shiro murmurs, encouraging Keith to move against Adam. “You look amazing like this.”

Keith can’t focus between Adam’s tongue doing something that should be illegal and the firm, slow strokes Shiro is giving his cock. Everything is building too fast and he tries to say something to that effect. He must get it across because Shiro moves his hand off of Keith’s dick to give soothing strokes up and down his side.

Adam flexes his fingers on Keith’s hips and pulls back. He licks over Keith’s hole one more time and then taps his hips to get Keith to lift up. Keith shifts off to the side, collapsing onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. 

Adam leans over him and smiles. “Good winner’s perk?”

“Shut up, you know it was,” Keith says. 

“Sometime I’ll do that until you come on my tongue,” he promises.

Keith pulls Adam down in a kiss that feels perfectly filthy in response, grinding up against Adam’s thigh.

Adam pulls back and works his mouth down Keith’s neck, dropping kisses and nips as he goes. He laves his tongue over Keith’s collarbone, worrying a dark pink spot into it with his teeth. Keith keens, burying his hands in Adam’s hair.

“Want me to leave a mark?” Adam asks against his skin.

“Please.”

Adam gets to work doing just that. Keith protests when he pulls back. “You want Takashi to fuck you?”

Keith nods and then reaches down to get his hand around Adam’s cock, realizing he hasn’t yet. “What about you?”

“We’ve got all night,” Adam promises. He kisses the spot that’s going to be a bruise soon and then leans over to kiss Shiro who’s laying on the other side of Keith.

“Mmm, such a good view,” Keith says. He drags fingertips up and down his own cock and uses his free hand to grope at Adam’s chest, thumbing over a nipple. Adam moans into the kiss.

They break apart and look down at Keith, eyes dark and full of heat and affection. “You ready, Keith?” Shiro asks.

“Yes. Definitely yes,” Keith says. He reaches out and palms the back of Shiro’s neck, pulling him down into a kiss. “I want you to fuck me, darling. Please.”

“Yes,” Shiro agrees, nodding immediately. He trails his left hand down Keith’s body, smiling when Keith whines at him bypassing his cock. His fingers trace over his balls and down to where Keith’s still wet from Adam eating him out. He rubs a finger over his hole. “Been dreaming about this for so long, baby.”

“Me too,” Keith says. He doesn’t have the words to tell Shiro that he’s been dreaming about this since before the Kerberos mission launched, that all of this feels like a wish come true that he’d barely dared to hope for. He pulls Shiro down into another kiss and tries to tell him without words.

Shiro breaks the kiss, breathless. He sits back and roots around in the sheets until he finds the lube he must have gotten out while Keith and Adam were occupied.

He stretches out on his side next to Keith. Adam is on his other side, slowly dragging his fingers over Keith’s ribs, mapping out the spots that make him squirm. Shiro slicks up his flesh fingers and Keith bites his lip before he can verbalize exactly how much he wants Shiro’s big metal fingers inside of him. That can wait until next time.

Shiro’s fingers tease at his opening, rubbing the lube around without pushing in. “This might feel weird at first,” he warns, applying the slightest bit of pressure with one finger. “Just relax through it for me.”

Keith huffs out a laugh and tries to buck into Shiro’s hand. “Shiro, I’m a virgin, not a monk.” He pauses to watch Shiro’s face color. “I’ve fingered myself, big guy. Even have a couple toys. I’m not gonna break.”

Adam laughs into Keith’s chest.

“Shit,” Shiro breathes. “I want to see that sometime, baby.” He works in one finger to the first knuckle and then stops, the tease. “Want to see you open yourself up.”

Keith moans as Shiro slowly pushes in further. His fingers are so much bigger than his own and it’s _so good_. “Want to see me fuck myself on a toy, too? My favorite’s almost as big as you.”

Shiro groans and rewards Keith with a couple slow pumps of his finger before pressing a second against his rim and starting to press in.

Keith throws his head back against the pillows. Shiro easily holds his hips down with his Altean hand and it burns through Keith.

“He likes to take his time with this,” Adam says. “But I think I can help the time pass quicker.”

Keith doesn’t manage to ask how he’s going to do that before Adam slides down the bed and licks up the side of Keith’s cock. He fights the urge to close his eyes at the bolts of pleasure when Adam takes the head of his cock into his mouth. It’s warm and hot and overwhelming all on its own, even without Shiro’s fingers buried inside of him.

He doesn’t know what to focus on as Adam bobs his head, tongue back to driving Keith crazy. He gets lost in the sensations, one hand resting in Adam’s hair and one fisted in Shiro’s as they take him to pieces.

“You’re doing so good,” Shiro praises as he scissors his fingers apart.

The words sizzle through Keith. “Fuck, I’m close,” Keith rasps out. “Don’t want to come yet.” 

Adam pulls off him with a pop. He trails his hand down to where Shiro is sliding two fingers in and out easily. Adam presses in another finger and a sound tears out of Keith’s throat that he didn’t know he could make.

“I think he’s ready, babe,” Adam says.

Shiro agrees in a husky voice and pulls out his fingers. “How do you want to do this, baby?”

Keith’s heart is so full and he’s so on edge and everything is _so much_. “I want to be able to see you,” he says.

“Just like this, then,” Shiro says. He settles between Keith’s thighs and leans down for a kiss, slow and hot and almost too sweet for the way Shiro’s dick is nudging at his entrance. “Ready?”

Keith nods and Shiro presses inside, a slow slide. He tries to stop to give Keith time to adjust but Keith’s not having it. He wraps a leg around Shiro’s hips and pulls him deeper, relishing the stretch and slight burn.

They both freeze when he bottoms out.

The only sound in the room for a moment is their panting and the slick sound of Adam’s hand on his own cock as he watches.

“You good?” Shiro asks, peppering kisses down Keith’s neck. He digs his teeth into Keith’s shoulder and makes him keen.

“So good,” Keith says. “You feel so fucking good. Big.”

Shiro pulls back an inch and then pushes back in and Keith moans with it. “God, Keith. You feel amazing. I don’t think I’m going to last long.”

“Me neither,” Keith admits, the words punched out of him by another thrust of Shiro’s hips as he starts to set up a rhythm. Keith grips Shiro’s shoulders and hangs on for the ride.

“You two look gorgeous together,” Adam praises from beside them. Keith feels the compliment wash over him, adding to the ever-building heat. Shiro whines and bites down on his bottom lip, equally as affected.

Adam reaches over and takes Keith in hand, jerking him in time to Shiro’s thrusts.

“Shit, Adam. I’m not going to—”

“We want to see you come,” Adam soothes.

“Come on, baby,” Shiro says, adding more force to his thrusts. He’s found Keith’s prostate and is hitting it with every stroke. “You’re going to look so beautiful coming for us. Let go for us.”

Adam presses his thumb to the sensitive spot just below the head and Keith comes with a shout, legs tightening around Shiro and nails digging into his back.

He vaguely hears Shiro curse as he speeds up. Keith is oversensitive and the drag of Shiro’s cock sends shockwaves through him. He never wants it to end but…

“You too, Shiro,” he pants out. “Come on.”

Shiro’s hips stutter and then he’s pressing all the way in and coming with a muffled groan, face pressed into Keith’s neck.

He collapses down onto Keith’s chest, heedless of the mess of Keith’s own release there.

“Mmm, I don’t want to move for a week,” Shiro mutters.

Keith runs a hand down Shiro’s back and then pushes him off. “Heavy,” he teases.

“Mean,” Shiro counters before pressing his face into the bed.

Adam chuckles and leans back in to kiss Keith again. “Too tired for another round?” He trails a hand down Keith’s chest and over his abs to cup his cock that’s already half-hard and rapidly heading towards ready to go again. “Holy shit, Keith,” Adam breathes.

“What?” Shiro asks, cracking an eye open.

“Are you already hard again?” Adam asks. Shiro definitely opens his eyes fully for that.

“Umm, yeah?” Keith says, unable to deny the very real evidence beneath Adam’s hand. “I’m guessing that’s not human normal?”

“No, but it’s very good,” Adam says before kissing him breathless. Keith latches onto Adam’s shoulder when he pulls back, sucking a mark there.

“What do you want?” Keith asks, gasping the question into Adam’s shoulder as Adam works his fist over his cock.

“Want to be inside you,” Adam says. “Bet I could just slide inside right now.”

“Please,” Keith whines.

“Don’t want this to go to waste, though,” Adam says, squeezing Keith’s erection.

“Oh?”

“Takashi’s down for the count but I bet he’d love you to open him up. Fuck him while I fuck you?”

Keith gasps as the idea runs through him like a shock. “Shiro?”

Shiro spreads his legs in answer. “Please. I want…”

Keith finds the lube and settles between Shiro’s legs. He warms the lube between his fingers before starting to work Shiro open, pulling gorgeous noises out of him. He’s working in his second finger when Adam starts playing with his ass, sliding in a couple fingers and pumping before pulling out to just play with the rim.

Keith pushes his hips back, silently asking for more. Adam nips at one ass cheek and keeps teasing. Keith twists two fingers into Shiro and crooks them, trying to find that sweet spot he knows is there. It takes a couple thrusts and but Shiro keens when Keith hits it.

Keith looks up towards his face and sees the red lines he left on Shiro’s shoulders. “Marked you up,” he says. “My claws must have come out a bit.”

“Eyes went a little Galra when you came,” Adam tells him. “Gorgeous.”

“So gorgeous,” Shiro agrees, breathless. “I like that you marked me, baby. Make me yours.”

A growl crawls out of Keith’s throat at that and he pulls his fingers out of Shiro. “You ready?”

Shiro nods. Keith slicks up his cock and lines up. The first push into Shiro is all tight, overwhelming heat. It rushes up his spine before coming back down to settle in his hips. He pauses, trying not to lose it immediately.

“Fuck, Keith,” Shiro breathes out. “Feels so good.”

Keith digs his fingers into Shiro’s hips and thrusts shallowly, groaning at the drag of skin on skin. 

Adam presses up behind him. “Ready?” He asks, lips brushing against Keith’s back.

Keith nods. “Yeah.”

Adam presses in slowly, not pausing until he bottoms out. Keith digs his teeth into Shiro’s shoulder at the sensation. Adam feels heavy and thick and perfect inside of him and Shiro squeezes around him and it’s all he can do to keep himself from tipping over the edge early.

With Adam pressed up against his back and Shiro beneath him, Keith feels surrounded. They’re both taller than him, a bit broader, and being between them like this reminds him of that in a visceral way. He likes it. A lot.

Adam moans when Keith clenches around him and gives a shallow thrust. The movement of his hips makes Keith thrust into Shiro. Keith curses lowly and holds onto Shiro for dear life as Adam sets a hard rhythm. There are probably going to be fingertip bruises on Shiro’s hips tomorrow; more marks like he asked for.

Keith is positive he’ll have more than a few between the two of them, too. He can’t wait to see them all.

Adam snaps his hips forward, the tip of his cock grazing against Keith’s prostate. Keith shouts and the edge he’s been trying to keep away from comes hurtling up on him. One more thrust has him falling over it, shooting off inside of Shiro.

“Holy shit,” Keith breathes.

“So good,” Shiro replies, sounding blissed out.

Adam slows his pace while Keith rides the aftershocks of his orgasm before slowly ramping back up. “You still okay?” he asks quietly.

Keith nods frantically.

Adam fucks into him, steady and hard and it’s mindblowing in a whole different way than how Shiro fucked him. Keith is still moving inside of Shiro, the sparks of overstimulation adding to the maelstrom of emotion and sensation inside of him.

“Keith, holy shit. Are you… again?” Shiro gasps out, pressing his hips back to meet Keith’s. “ _Fuck_.”

Keith groans as his dick comes to full attention inside of Shiro. “I can pull out,” he pants.

Shiro reaches back with his Altean hand to pull on Keith’s braid, drawing a shocked moan out of him. “Don’t you _dare_.”

Keith pulls Shiro’s hips up so he can work a hand underneath him, finding Shiro’s cock at half mast. “You going to come for me again, darling?”

“I don’t know if I can,” Shiro pants out as Keith works his cock. It’s a fast stroke and a tight grip, just like Adam said earlier. Shiro is fully hard again before too long under Keith’s ministrations.

“Get him going again?” Adam asks, punctuating the statement with a particularly hard thrust.

Keith’s yes is lost to a groan. He keeps his hand moving even though he knows his motions are getting sloppy as Adam drives them close to the edge again.

“Come on, Shiro,” Keith urges. “I want to feel it.”

Shiro obeys with a punched out moan, come spurting weakly from his cock and over Keith’s knuckles. The way he squeezes around Keith’s dick and the unrelenting rhythm of Adam dragging over his sensitive rim has Keith close to finding his end for the third time.

He pulls out of Shiro, gaining a whine from the man below him, and rocks his cock into the cleft of Shiro’s ass, rubbing off against him. Adam gets a grip on Keith’s braid and pulls, obviously having noticed his earlier reaction to it. Sparks dance down Keith’s spine on a gasp.

“So close,” Adam pants out.

“Come for me, Adam,” Keith says, squeezing around him. “Come on.”

Adam moans into Keith’s shoulder and does just that. Keith thrusts against Shiro twice more and paints his lower back with his release.

They all grumble as they shift to lay on the bed, Keith cuddling up between the two of them. Shiro wraps his arms around Keith and pulls him into a kiss — something slow and soft and almost chaste — while Adam spoons up behind him, playing with the end of his braid.

“Can I take this out?” Adam asks quietly.

Keith nods, too blissed out to talk, especially once Adam and Shiro start working to dismantle his braid. The rumble that starts up in his chest isn’t much of a surprise.

“Mmm, purring again,” Shiro says, nuzzling against the crown of his head as Adam gets the last of the braid undone.

“Our little kitten,” Adam says fondly.

“Happy,” Keith mutters through the purr.

“Good,” Adam soothes. He waits a few moments, letting the comfortable silence stretch as he plays with Keith’s loose hair. “You know we’re going to have to move to clean up at some point.”

Shiro and Keith groan in unison.

“Not yet,” Shiro decides. He leans over Keith to kiss Adam and then collapse back into his own space. “Comfy.”

Adam snorts. “Comfier when you’re not covered in come.”

“Details,” Shiro says with a lazy wave of his hand. 

Keith’s purr hiccups around his laugh and it startles the other two into laughing with him.

They indulge in a few more minutes of cuddling before Adam insists on cleaning up. The moment they’re done, they collapse back into a tangle of limbs across Shiro’s bed.

“Mmm, now I could stay here for a week,” Keith mumbles.

“Seconded,” Shiro says. “Too bad the boss is a stickler for attendance.” He elbows Keith in the ribs.

“Rude.”

“The only thing that could get me moving again is food,” Adam says from where his face is buried between Shiro’s shoulder blades. “I want a chile relleno from Tia Rosa’s.”

“Noo,” Shiro whines. “Don’t remind me of the food we can’t have.”

Keith bites his lip before speaking. “We could take a vacation,” he says softly, feeling Shiro go still against him. “Go visit Earth for a week or two. Maybe see if the other Paladins want to meet up there. Kolivan and Vrida are both willing to step in if I need time off.”

“You want to go back to Earth?” Shiro asks quietly, running a hand over Keith’s hair.

“Not to stay, obviously,” Keith says, looking up at him and at Adam. “But a visit might be good. It’s been a while. Longer for Adam.”

“A visit would be nice,” Adam agrees. “Can pick up spices I know how to use.”

Keith can’t help but smile at that, at the gentle reminder that it’s just a visit for all of them, that they’ll all be coming back here, to the home they’re building in the stars.

He leans up and kisses them both before pulling back. “Pick the date and I’ll clear our schedules.”

As they start drifting off to sleep, still tangled up in each other, Keith feels full of love. He’ll tell them soon, he thinks as his eyelids close. Until then, he’ll just keep showing them in every way he knows how. He squeezes Adam’s hand and presses a soft kiss right over Shiro’s heart and lets the warmth and safety of their embrace pull him into sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/LionessNapping) and [tumblr](http://perfectlyrose.tumblr.com)!
> 
> and if you didn't check out the art by hchano linked at the beginning of the fic.... [here's a second chance to do so!](https://twitter.com/hchanooo/status/1155735903194644482?s=20)
> 
> EDIT:// more lovely art to check out!! from the talented [Tomajo](https://twitter.com/tomajojo) \-- [the boys cuddling in bed](https://twitter.com/tomajojo/status/1167318438961766400?s=20) & [the chocolate scene when Keith comes back from his mission](https://twitter.com/tomajojo/status/1167401537737330689)
> 
> EDIT #3:// even MORE lovely art by the amazing [Erian_Art](https://twitter.com/Erian_art) can be found [here](https://twitter.com/Erian_art/status/1219831689234604032?s=20)!
> 
> EDIT #4:// in an embarrassment of riches, there is more art! the incredible [AzuleadArt](https://twitter.com/AzuleadArt) has created [this art](https://twitter.com/AzuleadArt/status/1228778807504621568?s=20) (very nsfw) and you should absolutely check it out!!
> 
> EDIT #5:// check out the [gorgeous art by iwonnn](https://twitter.com/iwonn_arts/status/1251514718348550146?s=20) as well!!! incredible ♥


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